Some Guys Don't Like to Play the Hero
by RavensAngst
Summary: X is back and getting himself into trouble. There's ACTION! DRAMA! ROMANCE! VIOLENCE! SEXUAL SITUATIONS! Oh..and a plot! What more could you want! ::VERY:: PG13 -COMPLETE-
1. Reflections

_Yay! My first chapter fanfic!_

_I hope y'all like it. I have finished writing all of it which means that I should be updating quickly… It also means that unless a suggestion is VERY good I will not be changing anything._

_This takes place just after the episode "Haunted" which you should definitely see if you haven't. I wrote this story because I was VERY ticked that Robin never apologized to Starfire. This is my response._

_Also, if you haven't seen the episode "X" I suggest you watch it right now or you will be confused about many of the things in my story._

_(sorry some of my chapters are really short. They look MUCH bigger in Word. I'll see if I can fix that...)_

_**Disclaimer**: Wait! What do I own? Ooh! I own a lot more than I thought! But sadly…Teen Titans isn't in there._

_**Though I do not profess to be great, I do not profess to suck either**._

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_Reflections (chapter 1)_

He was alone. It was after sundown and this was his time to think. "_Uh_!" he grunted as he sparred with his practice dummy. "Why didn't they trust me? _Arr uh!_ I know what I saw! _Hya_! What did I do…_eh uh_… that was so wrong?" He kept talking out loud as he practiced, always the same thing, always questioning himself. Asking why he'd done what he'd done just days before. Soon the berating took a different turn. "Why do I have to be so obsessed? _Yah_! I almost killed myself and I endangered my friends!" He paused for a second. "What the HELL was I THINKING?" he cried out as he broke the defenseless dummy in half. Robin fell to his knees and hunched over with his head in his hands. '_I hurt her. I hurt her and I didn't say anything._'

He finally gathered himself and stood. '_I should go talk to her. _-_Wait, what the hell would I even say? 'How's the bruise healing? As nicely as the mental anguish that I caused you?' Yeah right._'

She had always been there for him and she deserved the same in return. '_I just don't know how to even explain_,' he thought. '_I know that if I was thinking straight nothing like that would have ever happened_.' He realized that he was just wallowing in self-pity now. Finally, he figured that whatever he would say had to be better than nothing, so he headed back to his room to make himself presentable before he faced her.

He'd been in a similar position before, when the obsession with knowing who 'Slade' had been had caused him to become the enemy. But as Red X he had never actually hurt the Titans, he couldn't. He'd only disarmed them. Even as Slade's apprentice he was reluctant to fight them. Especially her. He had knocked them down and shot energy beams in their general direction, but he had never really wanted to hurt any of them. But, this was different. This time his mind was **_so_** gone, so entirely focused on finding this…this… no, not **_just _**a man…his equal -his evil, ruthless, maniacal equal. Nothing would come between him and his objective. This is why, when she couldn't see Slade, even though he'd been right in front of her, he had been outraged to the point where nothing mattered, nothing, but finding 'him.' So, he had hurt her without even giving it a second thought. Until now.

* * *

He stripped down and jumped into the shower. He welcomed the sensation of the water raining down on him. It had a calming effect and he could feel his thoughts just melt away. It didn't last as long as he had hoped for. Just as he stepped out, Cyborg's voice boomed through the speakers. "Titans, let's move!"

'_Why Now!? I need to talk to her!' _He grumbled internally_, 'But as much as I really don't want to, I guess duty calls. But, damn it! I had finally gotten clean!_'

As he was getting dressed, he flipped out his communicator, "Where are we headed Cyborg?"

"First National. Some dumbass is robbin' the bank **_again_**."

"Alright. I'll follow you guys on my R-cycle." He slipped on his final piece of equipment, his all-important mask, and he was off. He zigzagged through the town as he headed toward their target. He noticed that Raven was with Cyborg in his car and Beast Boy and Starfire were scanning from the sky as usual.

For a moment he almost wished that Starfire wasn't able to fly so that she would be "forced" to ride with him. But as soon as the thought entered his mind he dismissed it. '_Why deny her the pleasure of flight just so that I can have a little fun. She looks so happy_.' For the past few days Robin hadn't seen that familiar sparkle in her eyes. Her usual cheerful self had been replaced by a much more subdued version. He had watched Beast Boy try his hardest to cheer her up, but to no avail. He realized now that it was his fault that she had been this way.

* * *

When they arrived outside the bank he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. "Uh, Cy? You sure this is the place?"

"Yeah man. I'm **_sure_** I'm sure. This is the place that showed up on the scan…" Cyborg started. He was abruptly cut off when the ground shook behind him.

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_Please review, even if you didn't like it, but be nice! I know you can._

_More soon!_


	2. I'm Not Worth It

_Ahhh, now I see how much I needed to type. _

_Since chapter 1 was so short, I'm updating really soon. _

_And I've combined chapters so they will be longer. This means that chapter 1 and one other will still be shorter… though you didn't need to know that…. _

_Moving on…_

_The story gets better from here on out. I promise!  
OH! I also forgot to mention that almost everything that is italicised and in 'single quotes' is a characters thought._

_**Disclaimer**: Teen Titans rocks! But it definitely wouldn't rock as much if I owned it so be grateful I don't!_

_**Though I do not profess to be great, I do not profess to suck either**._

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_**I'm Not Worth It**_

_**(chapter 2)**_

Cinderblock vaulted from the rooftop and slammed into the ground creating a huge dent. He cocked his arm back and punched Cyborg in the face so hard, it made him fly back full force into Raven. "Oh, shit…" was all she could get out before she was crushed between him and a tree. Cyborg peeled himself off of her and helped free her from a branch, "You're gonna pay for that!" she growled before she wrapped that same tree in a translucent black sheath and ripped it from the ground. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" she yelled as she swung the tree. Like a bat to a ball, it connected with Cinderblock's head and knocked him sideways.

"Titans Go!" Robin yelled after Raven struck. He ran forward and whipped out his Bo staff. He stabbed Cinderblock with one end then swung it around to fully connect with the side. He turned to do a roundhouse kick to Cinderblock's gut, but was stopped mid kick when Cinderblock grabbed his foot and flung him backward into the air. He was saved from incurring large amounts of pain by Starfire, who scooped him up right before he hit the ground. "Thanks Star," he breathed as he readied himself for another strike. "Let's drop a bomb on him." Starfire giggled as she launched Robin toward the earth. "_Yaaaaaaaaah!_" he hollered as his foot connected squarely with Cinderblock's face. "Alright!" He shouted in triumph. His joy was short-lived however as Cinderblock recovered quickly.

"Beast Boy! I need a distraction!" he called as he reached for his grappling hook.

"Uhh…kinda can't right now Rob!" He heard Beast Boy retort.

Robin whipped around, "What do you mean you can't?" He stopped abruptly, after it registered that Beast Boy and the others were otherwise occupied with Jinx, Mammoth, and Gizmo. He hadn't even noticed that they had come as backup. '_This is so not good_.' He turned back just in time to dodge a downward jab. Instead it connected with the ground leaving another large depression. "Guess I've got you all to myself then," he said halfheartedly and began again to spar with Cinderblock.

He landed a few lucky punches, but so did Cinderblock. Robin tried to aim low in order to knock him over, but he miskicked and slipped under the stone beast's left foot. He heard a rib crack as Cinderblock began to squash him like an unwanted insect. He screamed in agony as he felt his body give out. He would have suffered even more broken bones if Starfire hadn't come to his rescue again. She threw starbolt after starbolt with such rage that one actually bore a small hole through Cinderblock. When he finally lifted his foot off of Robin, Starfire quickly grabbed him and flew him to safety.

He could barely speak and he couldn't see anything. His lungs were badly damaged and his mask was covered in blood from a gash in his head. '_I have to tell her now!_' He thought desperately. "Starfire!" he gasped as he tried to take in more air. "Star, I'm…" but Starfire interrupted him.

"Robin! Do not speak. You are too badly injured. I must get Raven." With that she darted off. In a matter of seconds Raven was on her knees next to him. She tore what was left of his shirt off so that she could better concentrate her energies on his wounded chest.

"Do not move!" She warned. Then she became silent. He heard her suck in air as she winced from the amount of pain that she was taking upon herself. In a few minutes time he could feel the air rushing back into his lungs; his ribs stopped throbbing. Even the gash on his head stopped stinging. He wiped the blood off of his mask and rose quickly, just in time to see Raven fall to the ground. He had never seen this happen. She'd healed him before, but it was just some cuts or maybe a sprained wrist and she'd walked away like nothing had happened. "Raven!" he cried as he slid next to her. She showed no signs of movement. He grabbed her and cradled her in his arms. "Raven, no! Please be ok," he whispered. He pulled her closer. "You didn't have to do this Raven. Not for me, I'm not worth it." As he bent to kiss her forehead in a final effort to wake her, he noticed her chest rise and felt her body stir. "Raven!" he uttered softly. Then he hugged her gently, "Thank God. I don't know what I, what we would have done without you."

She half smiled as she looked up at him, "Don't give up on me yet, Boy Wonder." She stood up and straightened out her cloak. "Let's go and be careful. I don't want to have to do that again."

"I don't want you to either." He said seriously. They took one last look at each other before charging back into the fray.

* * *

They returned just in time. Gizmo and Jinx were dismantling Cyborg, Beast Boy was literally getting run over by Mammoth, and Starfire had taken Robin's place in the fight with Cinderblock. She was noticeably doing the best of the three, but she really hadn't done any extra damage since she had rescued him.

Raven lifted Gizmo off of Cyborg with her familiar yell of, "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" and hurled him toward Mammoth, who had stopped to laugh at Beast Boy's misfortune. Jinx, who had observed her comrade's plights, shouted, "Screw this," and set her sights on Raven.

"That's probably not a good idea," Robin mumbled toward Jinx, but of course she didn't hear him and was slammed from behind by a stop sign. '_Ooh! Now that was funny!' _he laughed to himself.

He couldn't feel the pain in his chest anymore, but he still remembered what had been there and he was pissed. He whipped out his staff and held it behind his back with his right hand. With his left he motioned 'come here' as he yelled, "Hey Cinderblock! Why don't you finish what you started?" He smiled as Cinderblock pivoted with a startled look on his face. Robin did a dive roll forward, whipped the staff around, and knocked Cinderblock off his feet.

Just as Cinderblock was righting himself, Starfire knocked him forward with a starbolt to the back of the head. '_Good girl!_' he cheered silently. He whipped out three electro-disks and flung them at Cinderblock who dodged all but one. Robin took advantage of the fazed beast. He leapt forward and kicked Cinderblock's shoulder back as he whipped his other foot around connecting with the side of his head.

Just as Robin finished up the great combo move, Cyborg's arm beeped loudly, "Yo Rob! The security system's been breeched. Someone's in the tower!"

"Damn it!" He couldn't believe it! Here they were risking life and limb literally and now they had another problem to deal with. He scanned the area to assess his teammates situations. Beast Boy had finally gained some ground in his battle. He had changed into a viloceraptor and was chasing after Mammoth, baring his teeth menacingly. Raven was doing a little mind sparring with Jinx. At the moment she was armed with a motorcycle, but Jinx was taking it apart piece by piece. Cyborg had a hold of Gizmo's metal "legs" and was swinging him like a hammer. Starfire was circling above Cinderblock raining down starbolts. He had to make a quick decision; he thrived on quick decisions. "Starfire! Go."

"Robin, are you quite sure?" She questioned still firing, "I might be of better help here."

He tried to explain quickly, "You can get there faster than any of the rest of us. Besides I owe this guy an ass whoopin'."

"An ass whoo-pin'?" She looked very confused.

"Never mind Star. We'll be fine. Just go!" And with that she flew off.

* * *

He peered through the dark. No one was there. He was sure of it. He'd wanted this for a long time. He had planned for **_every_** eventuality, but stuff would go much smoother if no one was there. He had to do everything right if he was going to reach his objective.

He slinked around a corner and pushed a button. He was there. He walked over to the wall and took down a mirror. '_Whoa! A twelve-digit lock. This kid's serious._' He thought for just a moment and tried something. 1-9-2-0-1-1-8-6-9-1-8-5 the safe made click as it unlocked. '_Kid's got it bad_," he thought, but he already knew this. He reached in and gingerly picked it up. His prize was finally in his hands.

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_Please review—and for those of you who are going to ask me…No, this is not a Rob/Rae fic. Though I KNOW I want write one of those._


	3. Lost, but Not Forgotten

_A/N: YAY! I feel so loved! A cookie to all who reviewed!  
__I've mailed them to you and they should arrive within 6-8 weeks. –Oh, wait…I forgot to put "fragile" on the envelopes. Dang. So um, Cookie…**crumbs** to all of my reviewers! (Including those who reviewed my other stories!)_

_**Reviewer replies**:  
__Big "Thank yous" to **Jadedea,** **RavenOnline, lil'LIK Star, kmc99, "Mary", blonde shadowcat, corza12002, "Bethany", **and a "Special Thanks" to **Scott Okragleski**._

_**Bleeding Wings:** Loved your fic. I'm working on a Rob/Rae one next._

_**Woodfairy: **Yeah, in this fic BB and Cy are fillers, I'm not sure how to utilize them correctly yet. And Star **is **still feeling bad. That's why Robin noticed she'd lost her "sparkle"._

"_**I am Forever": **No, I'm not ticked at all. Questions are welcome! I wrote the Robin and Raven scene the way I did because I thought that if one of Robin's best friends were dying because of him, he would do whatever he could to comfort and revive them. Wouldn't you?_

_**Rochelleteentitan: **An **extra** big cookie for you!! I was hoping someone would figure out the combo and you are right. It was "Starfire"._

_**Evilevergreen: **Sorry to disappoint you, there's no hints of Rae/Red X either, but that's a great idea for another story!_

_**Disclaimer**: I'm way too busy reading my reviewer's stories to write episodes, so obviously I don't own Teen Titans._

_(I really am **trying** to check out your stuff guys. There's a lot of good ones and I get distracted easily so don't feel bad if I haven't reviewed yours yet.) On with the story..._

_**Though I do not profess to be great, I do not profess to suck either**._

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**Lost, but Not Forgotten**_  
**_(chapter 3)_**

Red X slipped the belt on, "This suit is definitely way better looking on me." He adjusted the individual pieces to make sure they all worked. '_Robin should have known I'd never concede so easily._' He smiled menacingly as he pulled out his extra vile of Xinothium. A thief by trade X knew when he'd stolen the Xinothium from Dr. Chang's lab that he'd need more than one. It was easy enough to get away with the extra after he'd tricked them into thinking he was desperate enough to destroy all he'd had to escape. Now he was back and his gadgets worked better than ever.

He exited Robin's room and crept down the hall. He slipped one leg through the open window that he'd used to sneak in and was reading his other, when he heard a crash. '_Shit! Either that's some dumbass trying to create a free-for-all break-in or somehow I tripped a fucking alarm,_' he grumbled, '_I thought I remembered where all of the trigger points were. They must've reworked the system_.'

He figured they would anticipate his escape and place someone outside to trap him, so he decided to check out the situation inside. Maybe he could take them out one by one. Besides, he knew this place very well. If he had to, he could hide out for a few days. If they **_were_** outside, he wouldn't get far and there weren't a lot of places to hide, being on an island and all. He cautiously tiptoed toward the source of the noise. As he neared the elevator he saw a flash of purple float by out of the corner of his eye.

"Robin, I am unsuccessful in my search for the cause of the alarm. I have found no trace of any intruder," X heard the girl say. "May I please be of any other use to you now?" She seemed to brighten up when she asked this.

"No, Star. We're done here. The police are on their way, so you might as well just wait there. It must have just been a stray animal that triggered the system. 'Cy! We really need to update that!' Star don't worry, we'll be there in a bit," Robin finished.

'_Ah, it is of course, the beautiful Tamaranian_,' he mused, '_and even luckier for me, she's alone._' It would be easier to attack her without the other Titans. He knew that she was a worthy opponent. She was strong and quick. He had been surprised last time they'd faced. He hadn't known she'd acquired eye beams and she'd blasted him back the second she looked at him. He was more than prepared this time. '_It's just too bad I won't get to see your beautiful green eyes,_' he lamented.

X boldly stepped out of the shadows, "It seems we're finally alone." She was startled and he took his opportunity when she hesitated. He dove toward her and shot two red Xes from his wrists while in the air. He then rolled forward and kicked her legs out from under her knocking her to the ground. The Xes had worked as he'd hoped attaching her hands palm-down to the floor. He quickly produced a horizontally elongated X and used it as an adhesive blindfold to hold her eyes closed. With her main weapons disabled she was much easier to handle. "I'm not letting you get away from me again cutie," He whispered in her ear.

He laughed as he watched Starfire struggle against her bonds. She finally gave up, but he wasn't able to revel long. He felt her legs wrap around him and he was launched across the room. He slammed into the wall with a loud thud. "Oh, that wasn't a good idea!" he growled.

"I believe you deserved that, you Nolvandering Sklerdnetch!" she growled back.

"I wasn't going to hurt you, but now I just might," he declared as he used two more Xes to hold down her feet.

"You will not get away with this!" She stated this so matter-of-factly that he had to laugh again.

"If it wasn't for you, I already would have. You were not part of my plan, but now that I have you, I think you will make a nice addition to it." His knees straddled her small frame and he situated himself so that his face was directly above hers. She could not move so he took this opportunity to examine her. Her body was tiny and only slightly curvy, but he didn't mind one bit. He unclasped her neck shield to get a better look at her delicate collarbone. He followed that up to her beautiful face. Her hair was wild. Flung out to the sides, it framed her face like the suns rays, '_Or a star's fire_,' he thought. He was still depressed that he wasn't able to see her eyes, but he comforted himself by concentrating on her lips. '_Well she can't see me anyway,_' he conceded before he flipped up his mask. He leaned in and kissed them gently. He could sense resistance at first, but she finally gave in, and if he wasn't mistaken, he thought he almost felt her kiss back. A stray strand of his black hair fell and touched her face. She flinched and he quickly slid it behind his ear.

He drew back to take in the sight of her once more. '_She's perfect_.' He traced her every curve with his fingers. At this she squeaked, but she couldn't put up much of a fight. X realized that he was in the position to take full advantage of her. He wanted to. He **_really_** wanted too. He wanted to kiss every part of her. He wanted to take in every part of her. His hand was poised above her breast, '_But, most of all, I want her to want me back._' He pulled his hand away and instead used it to lightly touch the side of her face. "Don't worry. I'm not a bad guy. I'm just a thief," he smiled to himself, '_So I'll just steal you away_.'

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Robin was elated to get back to the tower. After that grueling fight, nearly being crushed to death, and having someone almost die for him, he really needed to relax, think, and reprioritize.

"Star, hey Star! We really kicked butt!" he heard Beast Boy yell, "Come party with us…I'll even try some of your celebration pudding!" He paused, "Star? I thought she'd jump at that."

Robin tried to reassure him, "Don't worry Beast Boy. I told Starfire that we were fine and she said there was nothing wrong here. It's late. She probably went to sleep already."

"Yeah, B. Rob's right. Besides, I'd rather celebrate **_without_** Star's pudding." Cy agreed, feigning sick just talking about anything Starfire would cook.

Robin felt a breeze blow by as Cyborg and Beast Boy zoom past him to the television. "'Robot Rampage 2'! Booyah! --- No way dude! 'When Zombies Attack 5'!" Other "choice" movie names were argued over in the background as he watched Raven grab a kettle and set some water to boil.

Robin didn't want to let on that he was a little worried, but he didn't know anything more than the others. She probably **_was_** asleep. '_Even so, I should check on her_.'

It seemed Raven was thinking the same thing, "Robin, I know you told Star we we're fine, but I think we should see if **_she_** is. I've never seen her turn down a chance to uh… 'cook'."

"I know. I'll go. You relax. You certainly deserve it," he thanked her again with a smile as he pushed her hair back to see her face. He watched her violet eyes flicker over her cup of tea. It was her silent, '_You don't have to make a big deal of it.' _But he also knew she would do it again in a heartbeat though she'd never say it.

He was halfway to Starfire's room when he remembered that he was not fully clothed. In her urgency, Raven had torn his shirt off and he was now covered by only a few thin strips of fabric. Not that he looked bad by any means, but suddenly it was kind of important that he look **_good_**. Even before they left to fight, he was planning on looking nice when he talked to her. '_Hell, I wore a tux for Kitten and I didn't even **like** her._' So, he went back to his room to change.

He scrounged through his dresser drawers and was almost appalled at what he saw. There was nothing, just the bare bones of a wardrobe. Besides a full sock/underwear drawer, there were two white and two black tees, and one pair each of blue jeans, black jeans and tan khakis. He almost never had a chance to wear anything other than his uniform. He always had to be "Robin," ready for anything. If a call came in he had to be out the door and able to kick butt. He really didn't have any time to be relaxed. '_Well, I should be able to feel relaxed around her, if anyone. Alright. Let's see what I can do_.' He thought, as he rubbed his hands together. '_What is it that girls are supposed to like? …Right!_' He undressed and slipped on one of the black tee shirts and the black jeans. They were a little baggy, but luckily he didn't have any shortage of belts.

'_This is missing something. Hmm, maybe, just maybe…_' He went to his closet and shoved aside dozens of uniforms. Way in the back he spotted his only button-down shirt. It was still nice and white, just a little wrinkled, but that wasn't a big problem. '_I just won't button it._' He turned to look in the mirror, '_Not bad. Sophisticated, yet approachable_.' He frowned when he remembered his mask. '_I can't take it off… not just yet._'

All of his friends would've been shocked to see him saunter down the hall looking mostly, well normal, but not one got the chance. He was at Starfire's door in a flash. He lifted up his hand to knock, but stopped. He found it hard to believe, but he was almost afraid. '_I'm supposed to be this leader, this legendary thing, yet I'm letting one confrontation stop me? It's just Star. I'm sure she'd easily forgive me… just do it you idiot._' He finally willed his wrist to move.

There was a hollow echo. He tried once more, which only resulted in the same dead sound. "Star? Starfire? It's me. I just wanted to see if you were okay. Star?" He was really starting to get worried. Even if Starfire was dead asleep she should have heard him. He debated with himself for a few seconds, but finally decided that he should peek in…just in case. He slid the door open a crack. "Starfire?" He didn't see any evidence that the bed had been slept in, but he stepped inside to get a closer look '_Where the hell is she?_' He was getting really worried now. She was nowhere to be found. 'Maybe she's in the gym.' He thought hurriedly trying to comfort himself.

He ran down to the gym. '_If she's not there, so help me god!_' His fears were confirmed when the door slid open and the room was hauntingly empty. "STARFIRE!" He cried out. He didn't even bother to close the door as he bolted to the living room. "Guys, Starfire! She's gone! We need to find her NOW!" all of the words ran together as he gasped for air.

"Robin, you're…" Raven started, "you look…"

Robin must have been really scared. He hadn't even remembered what he was wearing, "It doesn't matter. We need to find Starfire!"

"Rob, calm down. We'll find her." Cyborg tried to reassure him, but he would have none of it.

"Cyborg, you take the T-Car and scan for her signal. Beast Boy, check from the sky. Raven, you and I are going to search in and around the tower. She was here not long ago. Let's hope she hasn't gotten far," he barked out. They all took off and he headed for the roof. '_Please, Please. Let her be alright!'_

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_A/N: Whoo! Intense Huh? Hope I updated this quick enough for y'all! Next one soon. I promise!  
Review please! You may be mentioned in the next chapter!_


	4. Big Mistakes

_**To those who read this before, I'm really really sorry, but the site was screwing with me so I had to repost it, but as a reward for your patience, I shall post chapter 5 almost immediately after! **  
A/N: Whoo hoo! You guys just seriously made my day! _

_Okay, so it seems that I need to explain 2 things because they keep coming up:_

_**1. **No this is **not** a Robin/Raven fic. It should be fairly clear by now that I like the pairing, but I do not have them together in this story. What I do have however, is Raven kinda liking Robin. It could happen and besides, I like writing Raven's angst and longing -if you can't tell from my name. Robin is just watching out for a really good friend. You all would comfort her too if she had almost died for you._

_**2. **How is "Starfire" the lock "code"? I used a fairly simple method: the alphabet. A1, B2, C3 and so on. And since the code was 12 **digits, **I broke up the two digit numbers. So 1-9-2-0-1-1-8-6-9-1-8-5STARFIRE!_

_**Reviewer Replies**:  
Big "Thank Yous"and cookies again to: **PaNRoBiN, titanfan, Jadedea, "Gem", blonde shadowcat, kmc99,Eyes of Nevermore, Babi3 A, darkness-consumes-me, "kevin", FiragaJackSpicer, "hi", crecent moOn19**(hehe), and** DeathIsMyWayOut **(I checked your stuff and oh the irony that your name is Serenity)_

_**RavenOnline: **no, there is no rape in this story. If there were, it would be rated R I assure you. Oh, and I made it up, but if I had to guess -I would say he hid it in his glove (or shoe)._

_"**A Titans Fan": **I'm happy that I could bring you out of your slump! And my signature basically means that I only profess to be decent -not suck._

_**Evilevergreen:** I'm glad I disturb you! …I think. Your question 1 will be answered in the story, question 2 I answered above, question 3 will also be answered, question 4 –Yes, I am trying to drive you mad. Mwahahaha! BTW- loved your review, you're not crazy, and I don't know what "Highly Recommend" does either._

_**woodfairy: **Your question will be answered and you shouldbe prepared to feel more "embarrassed". -Hope you live through it._

_**robinstarfire:** I really like Red X too! …if you can't tell. And if you loved rereading that "examining" part, then you should really enjoy the rest of the story. –Oh, and don't pelt me! I'll try to update about every other day._

_On with the story! More intensity and suggestion…_

_**Though I do not profess to be great, I do not profess to suck either**._

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**Big Mistakes  
****_(chapter 4)_**

Red X gazed at Starfire's sleeping form. She was so beautiful and he doubted that she even realized it. He had to knock her out quickly back at the tower and also had to hope chloroform would work on a Tamaranian. It had, and all too well. She'd been out for 12 hours already.

He walked over and sat down at his desk to use his laptop. After a while, he stopped and looked around the room. '_I've got this place lookin' pretty good._' He had only been is his new "apartment" for two weeks. He had found it in haphazard condition. It was being used as a storage place for old mattresses, but judging from the cobwebs and dust he found, it hadn't actually been touched in five years. He'd cleaned it up and found that the fixtures still worked and that once all of the dust was gone it wasn't actually too bad of a place. The heat didn't work, but luckily this was a temperate climate.

He'd needed a place to crash when he'd first arrived. This one had the best vantage points. It was on the roof of one of the tallest buildings in Jump City. It was one of the only buildings taller than Titans Tower and he liked being able to survey his surroundings. '_Plus it's a great place to think without anyone to look down on you_,' he thought.

X heard a low moan behind him and got up quickly. '_Ah, Sleeping Beauty awakens._' He lifted Starfire from his bed and leaned her up against the wall. If he could, he would have left her to sleep on the bed, but when she awoke, he knew she would burn right through it and in turn become extremely hazardous to him. As it was, he had barely finished reattaching her bonds when she stirred.

"I would like to know where I am please?" She asked groggily.

"You're where you should be cutie, right here with me." He replied lifting her chin. Even though she couldn't see him, he still wanted to be face to face with her. He was now as tall as she and in the perfect position to kiss her once again, but he did not. '_Later, when she is more awake_.'

It took about half an hour of her nodding in and out of consciousness before she was truly awake. She was almost eerily calm when asking her next question, "Why is it that you are keeping me here?"

Truthfully, he knew, but he couldn't tell her why so he didn't answer. Instead he moved toward her and held her head in his hands, "You are at my mercy. If you struggle it will be in vain, but if you **_promise_** you will not use your beams on me I will take the tape off of your eyes. Now do not lie to me, because if you do the tape will go back on and you will have no second chance."

Starfire then lifted her head as if to look at him, "I am not the one whose trust should be questioned. -Yes, I promise."

"Good girl." He was trying to put on an air of total confidence, but he had been hurt by what she had said. '_I want to be able to have her trust me, although given her past knowledge of me I can see why she doesn't_,' he lamented. "Now don't move, and try not to scream, though this will probably hurt a bit," he was trying to reassure her, but he knew that it was going to hurt much more than a bit. "I'll try to be gentle."

He brought his hand up to one corner of the tape. He could have just ripped it off, but going slowly presented a much less gruesome picture. He saw her tense and he moved closer to her so that he could better see what he was doing. He knew that she was in pain the whole time, but she never said a word. He peeled off the final inch and she blinked a few times before fully opening her eyes.

She looked around her before focusing keenly on him. Only a few inches from her face, he could feel her breath on his skin and he couldn't take it anymore. Without thinking he flipped up his mask. Starfire's eyes widened, "Oh my g…" but he silenced her with the kiss he had been planning. He became lost in the moment and soon so was she. He deepened his kiss and this time he was sure that she was kissing back. '_I knew it_,' he sighed happily.

A long while later he pulled himself away. The blood rushed back into his brain and he realized what he had done. '_Shit! Shit! Shit! What the hell am I going to do? I shouldn't have even brought her here and now I am so screwed._' His mind raced through possible ways of rectifying his mistake. '_Okay, for now…_' he grabbed his chloroform soaked rag from earlier and begrudgingly held it over Starfire's mouth and nose. He hoped it still had enough kick left to knock her out for a while.

Her screams were muffled, but before she completely blacked out he heard her whisper, "It is… you."

"Yes, it is me…Starfire," he replied to her now motionless form. It was nice to finally be able to say her name again.

* * *

* * *

It was noon. Robin had not slept one wink. At this point he didn't care about sleep all he cared about was finding Starfire. He scoured everyplace he knew she liked to hang out then started in on the south side of the city. Raven had taken over for Beast Boy during the night after he dropped out of the sky from sheer exhaustion and found himself in a dumpster. He'd joined the hunt again in the morning, but was now complaining about being famished.

Seconds after being ordered to search for Star's signal Cyborg stepped into his car and realized that it was coming from inside the tower. He'd radioed Robin who found her communicator in the corner of the 3rd floor hallway. '_Probably the last place she contacted me_,' he'd thought and took it with him. He'd told Cyborg to check the North East sector of town and resumed his own search, after quickly changing back into his uniform.

'_That was twelve hours ago and I still haven't found her_.' He knew it wasn't his fault but he still blamed himself. '_I shouldn't have sent her alone…but we were fighting for our lives…but she was taken…Starfire's a tough girl, I thought she could handle herself…but she couldn't,_" he argued back and forth with himself like that for the next few hours of searching.

By 4 o'clock that afternoon and still with no luck, the inner demons were aroused further when he heard Beast Boy complaining again. "Rob, we've been looking for Starfire all night. It wouldn't hurt anything if we stopped to eat for just one minute," he said whining hopefully.

Robin was incensed by this, "No, YOU haven't been looking for her all night. If this is really how you feel, you can just go back to the tower and stay there! In fact you can **_all_** just go back! I'll look for her by myself! And I don't care how long it takes, I WILL find her." He turned off his communicator at that point. He heard it beep in response, but he was not up for talking to any of them right now. He was way too pissed and way too determined. '_So what if I'm being unfair! She should mean more to them than this!_'

Just then Raven appeared next to him and put her hand on his shoulder, "Robin, you have to calm down. Beast Boy didn't mean anything by what he said and we certainly aren't going to stop looking for Starfire. I know how much she means to you and even though she gets on my nerves sometimes, you should know that we love her too -almost as much as you do." Robin looked at her and he couldn't believe how concerned and caring she appeared at that moment. He was so touched he grabbed and held her tightly, but when she actually hugged him back, he broke down.

"I can't take this Raven," he wept into her shoulder. It was very uncharacteristic of him, but he couldn't help it. He'd been running on pure adrenaline for the past twenty-four hours and now he felt that Raven was almost inviting him to heal himself by freeing his emotions. "You are so good to me," he started, "You're always there to tell me what an ass I am," he chuckled a bit through his tears and she hugged him tighter. "I **_need_** to find her Raven," he breathed, "I just…she…I…"

Showing just how much of a friend she truly was, Raven prodded him, "Say it Robin. Just say it."

"I think…I'm…in love with her," he whispered, almost surprising himself by how natural it sounded.

"There, that wasn't so hard now was it?" she joked in monotone, but out of the corner of her eye he saw her wipe a tear from her cheek. He wasn't entirely sure why, but he figured that she was probably happy for him and that was the most she would show it.

He wasn't quite as confident in his assessment when he felt her tremble slightly in his arms. He became concerned, but realized that he wasn't actually positive if he had felt what he thought he'd felt after all, so he asked her, "Raven, are you, okay?" he furrowed his brow and dipped his head so that he could basically make eye contact with her. "Raven, I want you to know…"

He wasn't able to finish, Raven's communicator went off and she quickly flipped it open. A harried Beast Boy was on the other end, "Raven! You soo need to get over here right now!"

* * *

_A/N: Oh, a cliffie! But neverfear! Chapter 5 will be posted right away do to complications with this chapter._


	5. Transfixed

_**A/N: **Okay, the deal with the last chapter is that only a couple of people caught it and I kept seeing that it **had** 4 chapters, but even **I** couldn't find it. I tried 50,000 different ways to get around it, but it still never came up on the list of stories with all of the chapters, so I just reposted chapter 4. _

_But, hey, bonus for you guys cause I'm posting this chapter quickly to make up for the mishap!_

_**Reviewer Replies:  
**__Big BIG "Thank yous" and cookies to those who happened to catch the last chapter or review up to 3 yesterday: **"jolie94". **To those who want to know who X is, all will be explained later in the story:** DeathIsMyWayOut, kmc99, **and** Jadedea.**_

"_**angelinajfan322": **(even if youmay bethe same person as jolie94) Thank you for not "guessing aloud" in my reviews. I think you will enjoy my explanation, especially if you guessed right._

_**Kiyoitsukikage: **Thank you. And talk about awesome: your story is awesome! I'm gonna recommend it to a couple of my reviewers._

_**Evilevergreen: **I really enjoy messing with your brain. Can you tell?(hehe) Yes, she does know him and your guess about his plan is close. Yeah, I think Star is smart too, just naïve, which makes her seem inept. I also really enjoyed your randomness, and yeah I have heard that song. I like it a lot. –Ooh and since you like Rae/Rob pairings so much, you should definitely check out Kiyoitsukikage's story: "Love Itself". You and RavenOnline, butRO didn't happen to review my last chapter so…_

_Without Further Delay…_

_**Disclaimer: **It takes long enough for me to type one freaking story about Teen Titans much less write, storyboard, and animate one episode, so obviously I don't own the show._

_**Though I do not profess to be great, I do not profess to suck either**.

* * *

_

**_Transfixed_  
_(chapter 5)_**

"Krystal, hi… Yeah, grr to you too baby. Look, I need your help… No, not like **_that_**. I need a distraction… Yeah. I've got to sneak something inside Titan's Tower… It doesn't matter what, I just need to get them all out of there and I was wondering if you could help me?…Right now… You can do whatever you want. Just keep them out of there for like an hour and try not to get yourself hurt. 'Kay babe?… Yeah, alright." X hung up the phone and glanced over at the wall. Starfire was still zonked, but he really didn't know how long she'd be out. He stared at her for a moment. She was still very beautiful even with her head hanging down and her hair covering one side of her face.

He was going to take her back to the tower and leave her their tied up. He'd have to hope they hadn't checked everywhere in the house so that he could steal some book or statue or something. That way when they found her they would assume Starfire'd been attacked and knocked out by some random burglar. Also he would need to "help" her not remember anything about it. This was assuming a lot, which made it not a really **_good_** plan, but under the circumstances not a really **_bad_** plan either. Even so, he was still an idiot.

It was only hope that had made him bring her here in the first place and now, all hope was dashed. '_Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! I've got an I.Q. of 165, the reflexes of a cat, and I can name every Bruce Lee film ever made, but I can't keep my head out of my freaking pants for one freaking minute and now I'm paying for it!_' He gently pulled the last bit of tape off of Starfire and gathered her up in his arms. He kissed her lightly on the forehead one last time. He saw the corner of her eye twitch and knew he had to get going, because she would wake up soon. He strapped her to his back like a make shift duffle bag/backpack and tried as best he could to sneak back to the tower.

He used the same window he'd used earlier. Even if they had reset the security systems it wouldn't matter (that was what Krystal was for). He took Starfire into Beast Boy's room. He carefully stepped over piles of clothes, papers, games, and other crap and opened the closet door. A stuffed animal fell on his head and about fifteen balls of different sizes rolled out around him. '_Glad I can count on you for general chaos Beast Boy. It'll be much easier to hide her this way._' He moved stuff around and made a spot that would be fairly comfortable for Starfire to lie in. He lay her softly down and took a piece of rope out of his pocket. He tied her hands behind her back and placed a scarf between her teeth and around the back of her neck. He wanted to make it look as if it were done by just a regular guy and not by him. Any hint of a red X and he would easily be detected and therefore fucked.

He whipped out a device he liked to call the "mind muddler" and held it up to Starfire's ear. Into it, he whispered lies about what had happened to her. He knew that she was very smart, but she was also very naïve and he hoped that it would work to his advantage in this instance. He heard her mumble along with him and he could tell that at least some of it had gotten through. It was actually much easier to do than he thought.

He'd picked up the device a couple of years back. He had stolen a gem from a science museum and decided to grab a couple of other things along the way. He'd only used it once before- to test it. That time it had worked, but not well enough to block out everything. He hoped it would work at least as well this time. '_Maybe, she will believe it to be all a dream_.'

He ran his fingertips from the side of her face, down to her hip. "Well, it was fun while it lasted. I hope we meet again Star." As he closed the closet door he looked back and smiled. He grabbed all of Beast Boy's CD's and his CD player. He almost felt bad for taking them, but only 'cause they mostly sucked. At least this way the place would look burgled, plus a couple **_were_** decent and he needed a CD player anyway. His apartment was seriously lacking.

He slinked out of the tower and as he left he tried very hard to forget anything had ever happened.

* * *

* * *

Raven grabbed Robin by the shoulder and melded him into her cape. They appeared next to Beast Boy and Robin stepped out of the blackness. "Alright Beast Boy, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Robin!?!" Beast Boy gawked, "I didn't know you'd…I'm sorry about what I said. I didn't mean anything by it. I swear. Forgive me? Puhleeese?" Beast Boy got down on his knees with his hands together, begging.

"Fine Beast Boy, you're forgiven. Now get up and tell us what's going on here." Robin grabbed his hand and pulled him up.

Beast Boy snapped back to reality and tried to explain what was going on way too fast, so his words jumbled together, "Me-and-Cy-got-this-call-for-help, and-we-came-down-here-to-the-park-but-no-one-was-here, but-we-looked-around-anyway. Then-this-fog-came-and-I-couldn't-see-anything-and-I-was-wandering-around-blindly, but-then-I-bumped-into-something-wet-and-cold-and-when-I-looked-up-I-saw-Cyborg! He was **_stuck_** in a **_block_** of **_ice_**!" at this Beast Boy turned and pointed a rigid arm behind him. Robin thought he may have heard him wrong, but when he followed Beast Boy's finger he knew that he **_had_** heard everything correctly. Cyborg had a shocked and angry expression on his face and was actually frozen with his laser arm ready to fire, except he was evidently never able to get a shot off.

"Beast Boy, who did this?" Robin asked examining the block, "Was it Dr. Chang?"

"I don't know! I couldn't see anyone!" Beast Boy said flailing his arms wildly.

"Well whoever it is, we need to put **_them_** on ice," Raven growled flatly, gathering black flames in her hands and slowly melting the ice around Cyborg.

"I don't think that will be necessary dear." Out of the fog Robin saw ice crystals form in a line rapidly aiming for him. Just after, he witnessed a stilettoed heal cut through the fog. He followed the heel all the way up her leg to her hip, past that to her bare midriff, over her chest, following the hollow of her neck up to her shimmering white face. Finally able to take in her whole form, Robin almost lost his breath. She was a complete vixen, well in a pale, frigid sort of way, but still. She was wearing a blue velvet faux fur lined coat that touched the ground, but formed an X in the front because there were only two buttons at her chest. She was also wearing a skirt of the same material cut extremely high up on her right thigh. Her hood was down revealing white blond tendrils falling over her shoulders. She had a soft, but chiseled face with pale pink lips and icy white/blue eyes.

"You really need to chill out." With this she held out her hand and opened her palm. It contained a small puddle of water. She pressed her lips together and blew the water out of her hand. It settled on Beast Boy in a fine mist that kept him frozen to his spot. With both Cyborg and Beast Boy frozen and Raven occupied, she turned her attention to Robin. "Well, well, well. The Boy Wonder. You know what I wonder?" She looked him up and down, "If you're more than just a boy, where it…counts."

He was transfixed by her low sensuous voice. If it could have, his jaw would have been lying on the ground. "Who **_are_** you?"

"Krystal…" she paused, glanced to the side and grinned. Bringing her piercing blue eyes back to Robin's, she raised her eyebrow and went in for the kill. She grabbed the back of his head with her hands and brought her lips to his. She parted them and breathed into him. His throat and lungs felt chilled and when she let him go, he could see his breath as he exhaled. She smiled at his reaction and finished, "…Ice."

* * *

_A/N: Okay, I hope you enjoy Krystal Ice as much as I do. I really liked creating her character. Though you guys may not like her as much in the next chapter...  
Speaking of the next chapter, if all goes well (crosses fingers) I shall be updating soon...IF you review.  
That is not just a threat.That is an order! Review! _


	6. Absolute Zero

_(Alright! I'm really ticked off at the site right now. I've been trying to post this for you guys for 6 hours now! I guess if you see this... it worked.)_

_A/N: My number one question this go around is: Just who IS Red X?  
Sorry to disappoint you all but Red X will not be revealed…yet! Mwahaha! Oh Come on… I gotta leave you wanting something right? I've thought this through thoroughly, and I promise you won't be disappointed.  
And I'm glad most of you all enjoy Krystal. I think she's a sexy badass villain. _

_**Reviewer Replies:  
**More Cookies for my reviewers! (I take requests -right now you're only getting chocolate chip): **PaNRoBiN, lil' LIK Star, titanfan, angelinajfan322, kmc99, Star of Fire, DeathIsMyWayOut, Jadedea, PriscillaGirl,** **robin and star fan, **and once again, a "special thanks" to **Scott Okragleski.**_

_**corza12002: **I will promise to keep my stories as realistic as possible. I'm working on another right now, but as you know from before I am a perfectionist and must finish and proofread it before submitting. Hopefully it should be fairly soon as ideas just keep spilling out of my brain, but I may write an interim short story to fill the void.  
**Jaina 12: **I didn't know anyone thought X might be Speedy! That's a very interesting idea though.  
_"_**crescent moOn19": **as I told Evilevergreen, I don't mind randomness at all. Actually, I like it! And there's nothing wrong with your name, I was giggling about your review. (hehe)  
_"_**Ryan": **sorry you "HATE HATE HATE" Rob/Rae pairings (I just think they are interesting, I KNOW that Rob and Star should and will end up together). This story doesn't have one, so I'm glad you feel the need to continue reading it.  
_"_**taylorangel72": **I'm sorry you don't like Krystal. And I'm sure that if Starfire were awake she would so go and kick Krystal's butt.  
**robin("plus")starfire: **thanks for all of your comments and questions. I hope most will be answered for you by the end of my story.  
_"_**val("at")val": **I'm glad you continued to read the story, but I believe that there are a few things that you do not understand. **1. **Robin **does **wear a mask. It's in the comics, so I didn't come up with it. I assume that they showed the bruise on the outside of the mask in the show, because they never plan to draw him with it off, but they wanted to show that he was hurt. **2. **The Titans do not and will not curse in the actual show. I only use it in my story for emphasis. It is also one of the reasons this story is PG-13.** 3.** I believe that Robin has normal clothes. Who would want to run around in uniforms all day? And X may seem like a perv, but it's only in this story.  
**Eyes of Nevermore: **X **did** tell Krystal she could do what she wanted…  
_"_**Michelle":** you are **very** close, but that will not happen in **this** chapter. And there will be **some** fluff later.  
**Evilevergreen: **Sorry to make you late for class, but it is a huge compliment that you were willing to do that for little ol' me. I hope you like that other story. I'm entranced so far._

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own Teen Titans. (Yeah, yeah… I'm not feeling funny, but I am feeling volatile, so BACK OFF!)_

_Well here we go again... More Krystal and more butt kicking. I haven't had a lot of that in a while…_

_**Though I do not profess to be great, I do not profess to suck either**.

* * *

_

_**Absolute Zero  
(chapter 6)**_

"Now enough with the niceties," Krystal Ice stated, backing away from Robin. She swept her arm toward a water fountain mentally lifting about a handful of liquid into the air. She curled her fingers inward and it formed into a ball. She then motioned the ball of water toward her and as it touched her hand it iced over. She threw it at Raven and with a loud thwack it knocked her arm away from her task. It was most unfortunate timing. Raven had melted the ice around Cyborg's head and around his shoulders. Another 30 seconds and she would've had his arm free. Now she had to pick herself up off of the ground and quickly heal her arm before she could resume.

Robin was pissed, but he was having a hard time reacting. '_She's just so freaking distracting,_' he sighed. Just then he saw her laugh at Raven's misfortune and that shocked him out of his stupor. He whipped out three electro-discs and flicked his wrist to fling them at her. She ducked one and froze the other two in mid air. Using them to her advantage, she whipped one toward Beast Boy's feet causing him to tip over.

It was fairly funny to see **_anyway_**, but it was even funnier to watch Beast Boy try to talk without having the ability to move his lips. Robin could barely hear him complain, "Guys! Uh, Guys! A little hel here, lease?"

Robin threw a heat disk over under Beast Boy. It would take a couple of minutes to thaw him, but at least he wasn't in a block of ice like Cyborg. He turned his attention back to the 'ice queen' and ran toward her while he whipped out his Bo staff. He was about to do a flying back kick over her to take her out from behind, but he faltered when he slipped on a patch of ice she had observantly placed under his feet. '_Freakin' hell! I should've seen that coming!_' As he was trying to right himself, she threw her body forward to do an aerial complete with a solid kick to the side of his face. So, instead of **_him_** having the upper hand, Robin was on the ground, his hand covering his now bruised face. '_Oh, now you've done it little girl_.' Robin was back on his feet and attacked Krystal with a vengeance.

He was cutting X's through the air like he was using a sword. Left, right, left, right and she was having a hard time dodging. He stopped suddenly and gritted his teeth, his lip quivering menacingly. He stared her down and when he knew she was doubting herself, he whipped his staff around and connected with her left side. Now she was the one on the ground. He could see she was recovering from having the wind knocked out of her and used it to what he thought would be his advantage. He took a step back, jammed his staff into the ground and used both of his hands to swing around it in an arch hoping to connect with her stomach. He was halfway around when he suddenly found himself -and ¾ of his staff- flying through the air. She had apparently caught her breath and her fingernails had grown into ice crystals hard enough to cut through the steel of the Bo staff.

He picked himself up again and saw a barrage of hail headed straight for him. He expertly whipped what was left of the staff in every direction and knocked them all down and just for good measure he caught the last one in his hand and flung it back at her. It grazed her cheek and she turned her head to the side. He couldn't see her face, but he heard her speak, "Enough with these stupid childish games!"

Robin couldn't believe his eyes. This frail looking girl walked over and ripped the fountain from the ground causing water to gush from the ground like a geyser. The metal was fairly thin, but it was still a sight to see. '_Damn! That was cool!_' His awe was short lived when in the next second he saw her fashion three ice-missiles out of the now pooling water. Then, with as much power as he assumed she could muster, she hurtled them expertly into the city toward a large municipal building.

He concentrated on the missiles and planned out their trajectory in his head. He was about to take off when he heard Raven cry out harshly, "Beast Boy, Cyborg GO!" The next thing he knew, she materialized in front of him and her black shield was cloaking them both. "He will **_not_** become a casualty for your twisted amusement," she growled.

Robin was extremely confused, but finally caught sight of the entire picture. Beast Boy was flying swiftly toward the missiles clutching a laser-firing Cyborg in his claws. Both were decidedly unfrozen, though Cy's feet were still in "cube" form. They were doing pretty well knocking down the ice-missiles, but had to pick up speed to catch up to the first one Krystal had launched.

He and Raven weren't doing so well however. Her back was pressed against his chest. Peering over her shoulder he could see why. Aimed at her stomach, was a deadly ice crystal with a razor sharp point.

* * *

Raven had shielded them, but not in time to keep out the entire threat. About 5 inches of the crystal was piercing through their cover and the end was scant inches away from her midsection. Because of this, the black shield granted no room for Robin to move about. 

Robin was tortured by the sight in front of him. Raven was in danger and there was nothing he could do about it. And he had never seen her concentrate so hard before, but what he **_felt_** reminded him of her healing just the day before. She had passed out then and he was certain she still hadn't fully recovered.

Krystal had the upper hand. Actually, she looked like she was enjoying herself. "Hey bitch! You think you're gonna save your little boyfriend?" she grunted, trying as hard as she could to puncture Raven's shield further. "You're only succeeding in killing yourself too."

Raven gritted her teeth. Robin could see beads of sweat on her forehead. He could even feel her stealing some energy from him as her concentration became more focused. He didn't care. He would do whatever he could to help her, which at this moment wasn't much because of the limited movement. "Krystal stop!" he yelled desperately, "It's me you want! Leave her alone!"

"Truthfully…I don't care," she quipped back as she pushed even harder. The ice crystal grazed Raven's uniform and the pointed tip turned pink.

"Raven," he whispered into her ear, "take it!"

"What?" she questioned, almost dropping her guard.

"Take all of my energy and beat her back!" he pleaded.

"Robin..."

"Go ahead Raven…"

"Get **_down_**."

"What?"

"NOW!" He dropped to the ground. Not a second later he heard Raven groan loudly. Krystal roared with laughter and he saw the black shield dissipate. He tried to stand up but couldn't. Something blocked him, so he slid sideways and looked up. Robin couldn't breathe. The ice crystal had sliced straight through Raven and had only just skimmed the back of his uniform.

Raven expelled one last breath and as the frigid ice queen allowed her weapon to melt, she fell to the ground. "Well, that'll do it for me wonder boy," Krystal stepped back and bowed, swinging her arms down and out to the sides as a misty fog enveloped her. Her exit was a welcome relief for him. He probably would have been impressed if the circumstances were entirely different, but other than to notice her absence, he wasn't paying any attention to her. Right now, all of his attentions were on the battered girl in front of him.

"Raven!" Robin gasped as he fell to his knees next to her and lifted her into his arms. Not twenty-four hours before, he had prayed that they would never be in this situation again, but now they were. "Raven? Raven? Please answer me!" He hugged her to his chest. "Your pulse is faint, but I can still feel it. There's still heat flowing through you. Raven, you are not dead. You can't be!" he was pleading with her, hoping to bring her back with his words. A tear fell from his eye and dropped onto Raven's cheek, "I thought I told you that my life wasn't worth sacrificing yours."

"And I thought…I told you…not to give up on me…Boy Wonder," Raven smiled as she talked amidst raspy breaths.

"Raven!" without thinking he kissed her and hugged her to him again. "Raven. You're going to be all right. Just stay with me."

"Uh, Robin?…Pain," Raven gasped.

"Oh, sorry," he allowed her to lie back in order to examine her wound. "Raven, can you heal this? Is that even possible?"

She was still breathing heavily, "Slightly. That's why… I'm even alive right now… but I can't do much more. The wound is too deep. I can heal myself again…through meditation… once it is much less…deadly," she said the last part while looking away from him.

"We'll take you back to the tower right away. We can treat you there and monitor you 24/7 until things improve." He lifted her up in his arms while he stood. "Raven?"

"Yeah?"

He looked down into her violet eyes, "I don't know if this is even worth anything right now, but…thank you."

"I didn't do anything you wouldn't have done for me," she replied.

"You know I would." He decided a little joke might help her feel better, "You probably couldn't carry me back like this though," She did smile, but then she clutched her stomach and coughed. "And if Cyborg and Beast Boy don't get back here soon, I **_will_** have to carry you back like this." Luckily he didn't have to worry about that because only moments later Cyborg touched down and Beast Boy morphed from a pterodactyl back to his normal form.

"Hey y'all. We finally caught that last ice missile right before it crashed through a window," Cyborg said leaning down to brush the last bits of slush off of his feet.

"Uh, Cy," Beast Boy tapped Cy's shoulder and pointed at Robin holding Raven.

Cyborg finally looked up, "Whoa! Rob! Rae! What happened?"

"Long story," he'd tell them later. "The short version? …We need to get Raven back to the tower right now!"

"I'll take her," Beast Boy offered.

"No. Cyborg get the T-car," he said gruffly and Cyborg ran off. "She sacrificed for me…" he mumbled quietly to himself, "She's not leaving my side." Cyborg brought the car around and he climbed in the back still holding Raven on his lap.

* * *

_A/N: Will Raven be okay? Will they EVER find Starfire? And who IS Red X?  
You'll find out...if you review!  
Hahaha. Another threat. I'm getting good at these..._


	7. Realizations

_A/N: Okay… I'm confused and really **lividly** ticked off at my posting and myself, so in order to appease everything…including the "Writer's Block" gods… I am no longer touching anything ever again! (Except to update, which is why this chapter is up so quickly)._

_**Reviewer Replies** (Also not that many today because of the screw up, but posting quickly to rectify!)  
__-Because I screwed up badly (I am soo sorry), Plate-Sized Cookies (**Oreo** today, I've had a request!) to everyone who can forgive me - plus M&M's to all of the people who have me on their "author alerts" who probably got 3 emails for 1 chapter. I promise to try my hardest not to let that happen again: **lil' LIK Star, SweetEmotion6String, Evilevergreen, corza12002,DeathIsMyWayOut, "jolie94", robin("plus")Starfire, kmc99, **and a "special oreo" to **Scott Okragleski.**_

_**angelinajfan322:** no, no "darkside" as you put it. (She almost died again… I mean come on, Robin would **have** to be there for her). --Anyway--All Rob/Star from here on out._

_There WILL be fluff, just not in this chapter and for those of you who don't like her… no Krystal in this chapter either._

_**Disclaimer:** Arrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggg! Quit asking me!_

_**Though I do not profess to be great, I do not profess to suck either**.

* * *

_

**_Realizations_  
_(chapter 7)_**

"Raven. How are you feeling?" Robin asked when she finally opened her eyes again.

Raven looked around her. She was hooked up to all sorts of gadgets and monitoring equipment. "I look like a lab rat. How would you feel?"

Robin chuckled, "I'd feel helpless, but you know me: always gotta be 'mister go getter.'"

"Yeah, well it's not much easier for me, but at least it's quiet." As if that were their cue, Beast Boy and Cyborg burst in carrying a balloon and flowers respectively.

"Hey girl! Great to see you in the land of the living," Cyborg greeted, laying the flowers next to her purple roses (rush delivery).

"Yeah, you've even got more color in your cheeks than usual," Beast boy chimed in as he tied the balloon to the foot of the bed (it was black, Robin could tell they were trying really hard).

"Thanks guys. These are lovely." Robin could see that she really did like them, but he could also see that she really did need some peace and quiet.

"Guys, could you go make her some tea?" Robin suggested.

"We're up to the task," Beast boy said saluting.

"We'll be right back," Cyborg finished and they left.

"Thank you." Raven sighed.

"You know it's a good thing Starfire's not…" his eyes bugged open. "Starfire!" Raven's trauma had made him almost completely forget about Starfire. '_How could I neglect to remember her?_' he scolded, smacking himself on the head. Though he probably had **_the_** best excuse, it wasn't good enough. "Oh, my gosh! Raven, I still have to find her!"

"Robin, go. I'll be okay. You've been a wonderful doctor to me, but at least I've got two nurses who will dote over me. Starfire has no one right now."

He held her hand in both of his, "Don't worry, I'll find her and I'll be back to check on you. I promise." He put her hand back down and walked to the door.

"Robin! Wait!" he heard Raven cry out desperately.

He turned to see her hands grasping the sides of the bed and her eyes rolling back into her head. She groaned in pain for an agonizingly long moment. He rushed to her side and tried to quiet her. He held the sides of her face in an attempt to reassure her he was there. '_What the hell is going on!_' his mind screamed. He couldn't bear anything more happening to her.

Her body fell still, then she fixated her gaze directly on Robin, "Starfire!" she could barely speak, "Robin she's here! I can feel her." His eyes widened excitedly. She continued, "Her mind…she must have been unconscious. She's still fading in and out, but she's here. In…Beast Boys room?"

She seemed uncertain at this, but he could tell it was just a questioning of why Starfire would be in Beast Boy's room. Even so, he still had to ask, "Are you sure?"

"It took my last bit of strength, but I'm absolutely sure. She's here!" Raven's head fell back to her pillow either unconscious or sleeping. Robin checked and she was still breathing.

He whipped out his communicator and yelled to the guys, "Get up here now. You need to watch Raven. We've found Starfire!" He was anxious and excited at the same time. He didn't want to leave Raven, but he knew that she would be in capable hands, '_And if she's right, I'll be back in a matter of minutes_.'

He ran down the halls and up the stairs to Beast Boy's room. He waded through alternating piles of junk and crap, but he didn't see Starfire. His one last hope was the closet. He shoved some more shit to the side to make enough room.

Every effort he had put forward and all of the sleep he had lost was all worth it, when he pulled open the door and saw her lying there. "Starfire! Starfire!" He tried his best to reach in and shake her to awaken her, but he only succeeded in causing more things fall on top of her. '_I need to get her out to a safer place where I can untie her_.' This thought made him feel horrible that she was even tied up in the first place. '_It's my fault, I shouldn't have sent her back alone.' _Then he remembered Raven, lying in the medical room._ 'Wonderful, I'm two for two,_' he thought bitterly as he lifted her from her place in the closet. He placed her over his shoulder and carried her out of the room. Once outside, he used his cape as a makeshift pillow and laid her gingerly on the floor. He removed the bindings from her wrists and untied the knot behind her neck. His fingers gently brushed her lips as he carefully removed the scarf from her mouth.

"Starfire!" he tried again to wake her. Robin felt a passing sense of déjà vu as he raised Starfire into his arms and placed her head on his lap. For a long moment he thought hard about pulling her close and passionately kissing her right then to see if that would wake her, though his logical mind got the better of him…this time. So, his sense of déjà vu became even stronger when instead, he lightly kissed her forehead.

Not one second later, he regretted even that decision. At this touch, she shuddered and curled into the fetal position. He softly stroked her hair and tried to reassure her, "Starfire, it's alright. It's me… Robin." At the mention of his name, she calmed and snuggled closer to him. As much as he was enjoying this, he really wanted to know that everything really **_was_** all right, "I've been looking everywhere for you. I want to know if you are okay. Please, wake up."

"Robin?" he finally heard her say, "It is you?"

"Yes, It's me Starfire. Look."

She opened her eyes cautiously and was pleasantly surprised by what she saw. "Robin!" she squealed with delight. She rolled over and hugged him tightly. While he recovered from her bone-crushing squeeze, she looked around and noticed the ties and the fact that they were both sitting out in the hallway, "Robin? You said that you have been looking everywhere- what has happened to me?" When he didn't respond, she continued, "You sent me to look through the tower, I found nothing. I contacted you to tell you as much, then all I remember is this strange dream in which I am talking to a bloody skeleton." She shuddered then reached up and touched her face, "And why is it that my eyes are stinging?"

Robin tried to follow her thoughts, but got lost at the mention of her dream. To sort his thoughts, he had to ask her, "You mean you don't remember anything?" She shook her head no. "I'm sorry, but all **I** know is that I found you tied up in Beast Boy's closet," he explained, but she just looked at him confused.

"Robin how could that be? I am stronger than even most males on this planet. No one should have been able to overtake me," she stated matter-of-factly.

Robin knew that this was true. In fact it was one of the reasons why he had sent her back alone in the first place. "Whoever it was, must have snuck behind you and used something to knock you out," he reasoned. "I guess chloroform works really well on aliens. You were out for more than twenty-four hours. Raven only just sensed you now when you started to wake."

He remembered that she had said something about her eyes stinging so he told her to close them so that he could check it out. "They **_are_** kind of red Star. I wonder how that happened?" He answered his own question, "It must be an allergic reaction to the chloroform. We should go get some medicine for you."

Starfire agreed, "Yes, that sounds like a good idea."

"Then you can see Raven there and let her know you are alright. She used her powers to help find you, the least we can both do is thank her," Robin stood up and offered his hand to Starfire.

"What is wrong with friend Raven? Why is she in the room of healing?" She looked and sounded extremely worried as she took his hand.

Robin stared at his feet. He didn't want to explain everything to her right now, but he knew he'd have to sooner or later. He related the incident to Starfire on the way back. As he spoke, he watched Starfire's every reaction and by the time he'd finished, her concern had turned to tears. He had to run to keep up with her as she flew to the infirmary holding tightly to his hand.

* * *

Starfire burst into the room and landed near Raven, "My friend! Robin has told me everything. Show me how you are hurt so that I may take great care of you."

Raven smiled, Robin massaged his hand, and the others just stared at her in shock. "Hey Starfire. Glad you could make it," Raven groaned as she tried to sit up.

Beast Boy walked up and poked her a couple of times, "Star! It **_is_** you!" he grabbed her and hugged her, "You're okay!"

"Yeah girl! We've been worried sick about you," Cyborg chimed in. He waited until Beast Boy let her go and hugged her as well.

"I thank you all very much for your concern and your time spent in searching for me. I would like to return as much care as I can for the one who is in trouble now," Starfire turned to Raven again, "Raven, please. You must let me look at your wound."

Being too weak Raven complied. By then she had on pajamas so she just lifted her shirt a bit. Starfire gasped. Robin wouldn't even want to begin to describe what she saw. Even though it had already healed a bit, any description would just be too gruesome to anyone who hadn't already seen it.

Starfire flitted around the room gathering things and came back to the bed, "Raven there are some Tamaranian remedies that I can use to make this heal much more quickly, but I need some more things. Boys, I trust that you can all look after her for a bit while I am gone." She flew out of the room and came back ten minutes later with a large bowl. She started mixing stuff furiously and in spite of himself Robin had to chuckle, well under his breath at least. Her hands were moving at fifty miles per hour and there were things he couldn't even begin to identify flying through the air.

Starfire doted over Raven for the next two days and she was starting to improve very quickly. By the third day Raven was able to start healing herself. All Robin could do at that point was check in on her every now and then, but nothing changed. She barely budged for the next eighteen hours, but after that she was moving without much pain. Because of her vast improvement, he let her move out of the infirmary and back into her own room.

Everyone else, including Starfire, had been sleeping like it was going out of style, but Robin just couldn't. He did sleep, just not as much as he should have- considering. It wasn't until Raven was almost fully healed that he even somewhat relaxed. It was wonderful to see Raven out of critical danger and it was good for Robin's heart to see Starfire smiling and laughing much more now, but he was still very confused about what had happened to her.

Stuff didn't add up. A while back, he had heard Beast Boy exclaim, "Dude! Somebody took my tunes!" but that seemed to be the only thing missing. '_Why would somebody try to break in **here** just for some CD's and a stereo? And why would they be wandering around with chloroform? They'd have to be calculating enough to know that they'd need it so why would they be dumb enough to only take inconsequential stuff they could get anywhere?'_ Nothing made sense –especially the fact that Starfire was overtaken so easily. It was possible that someone could sneak up on her, it had been done before, but it usually seemed to result in being flipped through the air and landing with her hand at your neck before she would recognize you and back off. Also, he couldn't understand why Starfire's communicator had been found in the 3rd floor hall, when Beast Boy's room was on the 5th floor. '_I know she's tiny, but why would the thief want to take her up two floors when she was already incapacitated? He could've just as easily left her **there**_.'

There were way to many questions that he needed answered, including: Who was this Krystal Ice and does she have anything to do with what happened to Starfire? Basically that one was in his mind because he just really wanted to kick her ass. So Robin decided to take another look around the tower. His first thought was to check out Beast Boy's room, but he couldn't find anything in there even if he wanted to, so he wandered around the 3rd floor hallway slowly, starting with the spot where he'd found Starfire's communicator. There was nothing out of the ordinary there, but he scanned carefully around the area and about six feet away there was a crack in the wall. It was small, but it did peak his curiosity. Additional searching produced nothing more however.

He had given up and begun to walk away when his foot stuck to the floor for a split second. Normally he would've written it off, but he decided it was worth a look just in case. He felt the floor beneath his feet and noticed that there were actually four sticky spots. He felt around a bit more and noticed that three feet to the right there were four more. More searching resulted in two more "patches" about four feet down from each of the others. '_Okaaay, this is really out of place. There is no way this could be accidental._' He retrieved some cocoa powder from the kitchen and came back and dusted it over the spots. He noticed that every one had the same shape –a rectangle with one side at a 45-degree slant. After he dusted them all, he noticed something else, '_These are just about the right size for…_' he splayed himself out on the floor, '_Oh… my…, damn it!_' He lifted himself up and finished out the picture. There were four Xes on the floor in just the right places for the wrists and ankles of a tall Tameranian girl. "X!" he hissed through his teeth.

He played out the scenario in his head. '_She must have been standing here, then he surprised her and knocked her to the ground -the crack in the wall was either caused by him throwing her or more likely her throwing him.' _He stopped and thought for a second,_ 'He had to have figured out how to prepare for her star bolts._' He looked down, '_He kept her palms to the floor and…holy shit! Why didn't I notice it before! The red on her eyes wasn't a rash! He…taped her eyes shut!?_' Robin didn't even want to think about how horrible that must have felt.

A blaring realization hit him and he ran to his room. He tore the mirror off of the wall. It cracked as it hit the floor, but he didn't even care. He quickly punched in the combo and whipped open the safe. '_I knew it! I knew it! That asshole took the belt and used the arsenal I created, on Starfire (Okay, now I have to apologize to her twice)._' He finally put everything together. '_Beast Boy's missing stuff wasn't the target. It was only a diversion! Starfire wasn't tied up by some inept guy who happened to get lucky; that was a calculated step and I was almost stupid enough to believe it!_' It was a good thing he was so stubborn and questioning or he would've missed the clues and X would've gotten away with everything, but now… Robin clenched his fists so hard he drew blood from his palms-even through his gloves '_Oh, I am **so** kicking his ass!'_

_

* * *

A/N: Starfire's back! What's Robin going to do **now**?  
Review please....  
This time I'm begging! Please Please Please... I feel so unloved._


	8. Mind Trail

_A/N: Yay! You all really do like me! I've got over 100 reviews and I owe it all to you guys! You just made one of my "wildest dreams" come true!_

_--Just to **clear up some stuff**…First –Even though hinting at Rob/Rae has been done thus far, it is definitely Rob/Star here on out. It should have been noticeable that this was a Rob/Star fic since the first chapter, but maybe that was just me… Second- There are **11** chapters total. Third –later on, there WILL be some fluff for you all who like fluff, but I tried as hard as I could to make it believable so it really isn't **that** fluffy.Anyway, everyone should enjoy it!_

_**Reviewer Replies**:  
__THIS time it's not my fault if some of you weren't contacted about my last chapter. Yay for me! -bad for you. The site was having repairs done on Friday and stuff got mixed up. But I have found everyone's reviews and today you get any kind of cookie you want! Just visualize it in your mind… and squint a bit: **Crimsy, rjectkd89, "anonymous"(#1 and/or #2), blonde shadowcat, Saint H, Babi3 A, lil' LIK Star, "kitty", Eyes of Nevermore **(mmm cookie!)**, kmc99, PaNRoBiN**(x2)**, "Isabelle", KrimzonGuard Bites BaronP**(jigs too)**, "inuspartan", Jadedea, titanfan, **and **Suriyuna. **_

"_**Eilene": **thanks for not flaming since I asked everyone to be nice, and yes I **do** know best don't I? (hehe)_

_**Absolutely pointless: **glad you like it, but my **next** long one will be a Rob/Rae one. This is **supposed** to be mostly Rob/Star._

_**"jolie94":** well, you didn't ruin **my** fun, I've been leaving "clues" throughout each chapter to see if anyone can guess and technically **no one's** fun is ruined because I give "X" a thorough explanation later._

_**robinxstarfire FAN!: **yay! Thanks for reading this fic! I'm glad you like it. That makes me really glad I mailed you!_

_**Evilevergreen:** Ooh, I'm glad you noticed how quick Robin catches on to things…if you liked that in the last chapter, you'll really like these next ones!_

_**Taiba: **I **like** your nonsensical verbiage! (I'll have to use that "description" later for some stuff that comes out of my mouth) I'm **really** sorry, but there's no BB/Rae. Not because I don't like the pairing –I love it actually, it's just that I'm not really sure how to utilize it correctly. I have another one-shot fic 'Welcome to My Life' that has hints of BB/Rae. Maybe you'd enjoy that? Also, I would've rated this R, but I tried to pare it down to the area of PG-13 movies I've seen with this content. That is also why I added the caveat of ::VERY:: PG-13 in my summary. _

_**robin(plus)starfire: **X was mad that he'd taken Star to his place because he let her find out his "secret" too early and he had to rectify the stupidity. –I shall email you about how to post a story--. And I tried to put an actual "plus sign" in your name, but it doesn't show up when I post the chapters, so this way, you know it's you…_

_**foreverfree: **gosh, I hope your filament doesn't pop before I explain who X is! Keep burning bulb! Keep burning!_

_**Queen-of-Azarath: **I'm really happy you stopped to read all of my story. I know what you mean, sometimes it takes so long to get through so many chapters that you can give up…but I **shall** read yours (wow 444 reviews!), today was just a busy day._

_**corza12002: **Aww…that's **sad** Corza, Oreo's rock. What's up with you Aussies? (sends package your way)_

_**Girl With The Cauldron Spirit: **Yep, Rob/Star. And I'm sure you too will enjoy the explanation of Red X. Oh, and I'm just good I guess, (haha)no really, I just write what I would like to read is all…_

"**Ryan": **Thanks for the "propz". I really do try to edit and re-edit before I post. I'm sorry you thought the last 2 chaps were "off topic". There **was** a reason for Krystal (plus I just like her) and Robin **did** find Star, but the next ones you will probably find "back on track".

_Whew… my fingers are about to fall off! (no really, I don't mind)…_  
_Now, in order to not leave big plot holes and to have plausible explanations, these next 2 chapters have a lot of exposition, but I think you'll enjoy reading it. Plus, I spiced it up a bit (wink)…_

_**Disclaimer:** I would bid on TT if it were auctioned on eBay, but other than that…_ _**Though I do not profess to be great, I do not profess to suck either.**_

* * *

**_Mind Trail_  
_(chapter 8)_**

He didn't want to confront Starfire with this information just yet because he didn't want to hurt her and obviously she didn't remember anything anyway, although **_why_** she couldn't remember eluded him. He went to his computer and tried to track Red X. After a few hours of getting nowhere, he returned to the scene of the crime. '_There has to be something I'm missing_.' He searched every piece of furniture, every inch of wall and still found nothing new.

"Do you need any help looking for something?" He turned to see Raven walking carefully down the hall toward him, all the time clutching her stomach.

Her room was on this floor, but she still shouldn't have been out of bed, "Raven what are you doing? You need to go back and lie down!"

He started to escort her back to her room when she stopped him, "Robin I've been lying on my back for four days now. I really need to get up and walk around a little. I'm trying to take it easy, and besides I am almost fully healed."

"I'm just really worried about you Raven," he started, "I don't want you to get hurt again. There's been way too much excitement in the last few days and I don't think you or I could take anymore."

"Fine, I'll go back to my room… right after you tell me what you're looking for." He started to change the subject, but she interrupted him, "The truth Robin. You should know by now that I can tell."

"Alright, I was looking for any clue that would lead me to Red X," he admitted.

"Why would you need to do that, well…right now?" She barely raised an eyebrow as she asked the question.

He tried to start from the beginning, "Well, I was confused about what had happened to Starfire. Nothing made sense so I came here because this is where I found her communicator." She nodded so he continued, " Initially, I found nothing of consequence and I was about to leave when I stepped on this…" he pointed to the ground and illustrated his findings by lying on the floor in the relevant position.

"So, you think that Red X attacked Starfire because of some patterns on the floor?" she questioned in monotone.

"They were sticky. Like he'd taped her down with industrial strength Xes or something. She also had red marks on her eyelids in the shape of an X. That…and I checked my room and the belt that holds the Xinothium and completes the outfit, was gone," he said that with almost a hint of sarcasm.

Raven's jaw dropped a bit, "Well, okay then."

Robin continued, "But now I can't find anything else to help me track him down, and Starfire already said she doesn't remember anything."

Raven stepped forward, "May I try something?"

"Will it hurt you?" he asked reflexively, " I already told you that I don't want you to…"

She interrupted him again, "No, it won't hurt. It will just take a lot of concentration. So I need you to be quiet and I also need you to go away."

"What? I'm not going to leave you here alone when you're using your powers. Not right now. Not while you're still vulnerable," he protested.

Raven shook her head, "No, I mean you need to move. About ten yards down the hall should be fine."

"Okay, but um, why?"

"I'm trying to get some 'vibes' off of this spot," she rolled her eyes as she said "vibes," "And I don't need any interference from you…well, your feelings."

Robin curiosity was piqued, "So you're going to get some kind of 'premonition' or something?"

"No, I don't have that power." She tried to explain, "If what you think happened here really did happen, some strong feelings would have been given off and depending on how strong they were, their essence would be left behind for a while. Kind of like, uh, sweat." She looked a little disgusted at this, but he got a picture of what she was talking about.

"Okay, I trust you," he said, shrugging as he walked to her designated distance. He stared in awe at the scene unfolding in front of him.

She closed her eyes and swung her hands above her head and in front of her face only inches apart. He heard her chant her familiar words, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos," then she brought her arms straight out at her sides, palms out, and lifted her head to the sky. Then she chanted something he'd never heard before, "Antium Echoshun Valiar!" This time, a black and silver what Robin could only describe as, a "tornado" appeared and swirled around the hallway. All of a sudden it picked up Raven and spun her around twice before it set her back down and disappeared.

She lowered her head and her hands and he ran to her, "Raven are you alright?"

She cocked her head to the side and gave him a half smile. "Yes Robin, I'm fine. I just didn't know if that would actually work."

He gave her a very stern look, "Raven!"

She gave him a stern look back, "Don't look at me like that. You should also trust my judgment by now. I knew that I wouldn't be harmed. I just hadn't done it before."

He crossed his arms and inhaled and exhaled very loudly, but finally gave up, "So, did you get any 'vibes'?"

She nodded, "It was very odd. I sensed anger and pain, but also an overwhelming sense of excitement and," she paused, looked into his eyes and then away, "passion."

'_What the hell?!_' "What the hell?!" He grabbed her shoulders, "Did you just say what I think you said? Are you sure?"

She brushed his arms off of her, "Yes, **_that_** was unmistakable." Robin gave her an "unmistakable" sign of dismay. "I don't know who felt what, if that helps…" This time **_she_** dipped her head to look into **_his_ **eyes. "Robin, you don't know what happened. Now buck up and go find out for yourself." It was weird hearing an old cliché pop out of her mouth, but he had to admit she was right. "You need to go talk to Starfire first. Then let me see if I can use the memories of her feelings to help guide me to him. I think I can do it, as long as they're strong enough."

* * *

Robin stared at the door and finally just slid it open. He found her perched on the edge of her bed staring out the window, "Starfire?"

When she turned around, she saw who it was and smiled, "Robin! Why have you come to see me…in my room?"

He sat down next to her and got right to it, "Starfire, I know you said that you don't remember anything about the other night, but I really need you to try again."

She looked at him confused, "But Robin, I have shuffled through the blurry pictures in my head many times and not one has become completely clear."

"I've found something that might be helpful to you Star. Please, come with me," he led her down to the 3rd floor. He showed her what he had found and instructed her to examine it for herself in hopes that something would shock her memory.

She looked around for a while, but still exhibited confusion, "Robin I am not quite sure what this means. Is this meant to help my mind remember?"

He sighed, "Star, I **_really_** didn't want to do this to you, but would you try something for me?" he asked hoping his expression clearly showed his regret.

"Yes Robin. Anything," she marked him with a questioning, but quaint look on her face.

He really hated to do this to her even though it may help, because he didn't want to see her in pain. "Starfire please lie down here," he directed here to the correct place on the floor. He tried to help her recreate the scene, "Close your eyes."

She obeyed, but she still looked confused, "This does not seem to be helping Robin."

He decided to try something else. He didn't know if it would work, but he was at a loss for other ideas. He straddled her and grabbed her hands and pressed them roughly to the floor. He also pinned down her legs with his. He noticed that her face was scant inches away. He could feel her breath on his lips. He couldn't stop himself, something inside of him took over and his lips moved on their own, "I'm not letting you get away from me again…cutie."

He saw her cringe and clench her teeth. "Nolvandering Sklerdnech!" she cried as she flipped him off of her with her feet. There was nothing he could do. He flew through the air and hit the wall creating a second crack. "Okaaaay… that was useful. I think," he reflected while agonizingly rubbing the shoulder that had smacked into the wall.

Starfire shot straight up and quickly tried to rectify her mistake, "Robin! I am so sorry! Did I hurt you? How did that happen?"

He listed off the answers to her quandaries, "Starfire, it's alright. It'll probably just be a bruise -so don't worry about it. I'm betting you just remembered something that will help us…and now, I'm gonna rest for a sec." He was hurt a bit worse than he'd told Starfire, but he never let on how much. At the very least he was woozy, but he didn't want her to worry about him. She'd just been through enough. He sat in silence leaning his head back against the wall he had just smashed into. Starfire mimicked him. He didn't even want to think about what had just happened, but of course when you don't want to think about something that's the only thing you think about, so the thoughts came spewing out in no particular order. '_That was weird. It worked, but what happened to me just now? I don't talk like that. That must've been residual feelings that **he** had._' Robin stopped for a second to consider it all, '_But, I'm not empathic like Raven. WAIT! Why would **he** fell like that? I'll kill him!' _

His thoughts quickly turned to the girl next to him, "Starfire I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me just now. That voice was not mine. I know I must've sounded like a jerk."

Starfire looked befuddled, "Robin what are you speaking of? I did not hear you say anything to me at all. **_I_** am the one who should be apologizing to **_you_**! I should not have hurt you. I do not remember being mad at you…**_or_** at the wall."

He didn't even know where to start explaining this to her, "Well Star, you **_were_** sorta mad at me. I think I said something that triggered a bad memory. You called me a Nulbandering Sklerdnick or something like that, and flung me into the wall with your legs."

Starfire was aghast, "What!? I would **_never_** call you that!" She stopped and put a hand over her mouth, "Holy zarnals! …That was not meant for you Robin!"

"Yeah, I kinda figured that Star," he started, "Actually, I think that was meant for your attacker." He was about to tell her that it was Red X, but stopped himself. Though, he was worried that that would lead him to another instance of overwhelming jerkosity and more pain for Starfire, it would make it easier for Raven to follow her feelings if the 'vibes' were natural.

"Yes Robin, I know, but I am afraid that that is all I remember." Starfire looked at him with curiousity, "What is it that I should do now?"

"We need to get Raven."

* * *

_A/N:_ _Don't you just love Raven's "new spell"? And boy, Robin goes to such lengths doesn't he? Whoo…  
__So, does any of this help? Will he ever find X? You bet… but how?!?!_

_Review to find out!!_


	9. Curious Methods

_A/N: Okay I don't know what's up with this site right now, but I'm still happy to see y'all are finding my story and that it's been recommended to so many of your readers too!  
__I'd like to make a recommendation myself if I may: one of my inspirations (whom you may have noticed I've given special thanks to) - **Scott Okragleski **- has written a wonderful story entitled **'Ship of Heroes'**, so if any of you would be interested in reading about the Titans on the Titanic, I urge you to check it out. It's on my favorites._

_**Reviewer Replies:  
**__Thank you all so much. I've gotten so many that I'm almost overwhelmed! But no worries - I haven't run out of cookies yet! How does "sugar" sound for today?: **DeathIsMyWayOut **(No no, Robin's mine. haha), **Sprox 083, Babi3 A, lil' LIK Star, blackcatt, crazyauthorperson, Aeris9919, kmc99, Jadedea, titanfan, Emmery, corza12002 **(mmm…I think) and **Evilevergreen, **and yay! another "special thanks" to **Scott Okragleski**!_

_**Queen of Azarath: **you are so right! I completely forgot that Rae had that premonition. See, I don't really like Terra much so I've only seen that one once.  
_"_**this. is. stupid.": **he does seem to be more touchy-feely with Raven thusfar doesn't he? That should change here soon. Oh! And I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I would like you to keep your hands on! There are still 2 more chapters to review!  
__**angelinajfan322**: I still laugh every time I read your review (hahaha). I shall update quick to avoid the wrath!  
__**StarfireFowl13: **I'm so glad you decided to check out my story! (gives mental thanks to whomever had me on their faves) There will be more action in the next chapter!  
__**Saint H: **Interesting guesses! -"A really high Aqualad" (haha). Thanks for reviewing 2 in a row!  
_"_**val("at")val": **did you mean that I spelled stilettoed wrong? Because otherwise I'm confused… But thank you for reading my story anyway.  
__**Softballtitan009: **thanks for the multiple reviews! I know, this one is "soo close" to Rob/Rae, but my next long story will be more than "close".  
_"_**foreverfree": **yay! I'm so glad you could "see" what was going on in this last chapter. That's what I try for when I'm writing. More "thin ice" for Rob this chapter -Only 2 more to go to figure out X.  
__**Blood Darkness: **huh, I didn't know that there was anyone who wasn't a fan of Rob/Star. Interesting…well, as I said before, my next long one is going to be Rob/Rae.  
__**Forlorn Melody: **well hey alright! More "sensuality" this chapter and more Red X next!_

_Okay. Well, now for more traipsing through Robin's brilliant yet slightly twisted mind…_

_**Disclaimer: **If I owned the Titans, Terra would have been "accidentally" cracked by now…_

_**Though I do not profess to be great, I do not profess to suck either**.

* * *

_

**_Curious Methods_  
_(chapter 9)_**

In order to find a thief he would need to think like a thief. He really didn't want to "enter into Red X's mind", but since Starfire couldn't remember anything, he'd have to. She had flown off to get Raven, leaving Robin to resign himself to this plan. '_Okay, he broke in, figured out my code, and stole the damn utility belt,_' he sneered a bit at this, but moved on quickly, '_Starfire called us to say that she hadn't seen anyone, so obviously he didn't attack her until after that. We were here five minutes later, so it had to have happened in that short period of time. _

'_He knocked her down with her hands on the floor and had her eyes taped at this point, otherwise she would've blasted him and that would've been that. She must've had her feet free when she threw him against the wall,_' he rubbed his shoulder again thinking of this, '_so he taped them down too._' He really didn't want to hash out any other details. He felt bad enough knowing that this had happened at all and he hadn't been there to save her.

'_Disabling Starfire had to have taken at **least** a few minutes, but he still could have hung around for a while. Maybe he heard us coming and needed to get out of there. Then why would he need to knock her out?_' That one was easy enough, '_He wanted to move her._ _But why?' _Robin may never know, but X wouldn't have needed to use any chloroform if he just left her there. '_So he carried her up stairs to Beast Boy's room and removed the Xes to make it seem like someone else had attacked Star…Wait, if he had just ripped the tape off of her it would've stung like hell and he would've risked waking her up. And he didn't have the kind of time it would've taken to peel them off slowly. Besides, if he just ripped them off like two minutes after attaching them, the red marks would've been much less noticeable than they were after I found her. Okay, so…either he hid here for a while - but no Raven would've sensed him (he couldn't be **that** cool all the time) OR **he took her with him**! But how'd she end up back here?_ _And why can't Starfire remember anything?' _Those last questions he'd have to deal with later. Right now, he needed to deal with what he knew happened – at least, up to the point at which he and the rest of the Titans had entered the scene.

* * *

'_I know what happened, but what use is it? How am I supposed to find him? It's not like he took her back with him dragging her body over the ground_, _leaving a nice convenient trail for me to follow._' He needed to figure out a way to recreate another emotion from Starfire that would allow Raven to track Red X. '_All right so what happened next? He took her back to his place. He'd still want to keep her immobilized, or she'd kick his ass. So he'd keep her eyes taped and her hands attached to…what? Nothing that can be burned through. Concrete, brick, or steel would do it, so the ground, the floor, or the wall. Well, if it was me…'_

Starfire floated down the hall toward him with a cloaked Raven trailing behind. Robin reached out, grabbed Starfire's right wrist, yanked her to him, swung her around, and shoved her against the wall. He pinned her wrist, his other hand was on her shoulder. His body pressed against her so close there was hardly room for either to breathe. He placed his head to the side of hers to stare at the wall rather than into her pained eyes and whispered into her ear once more. This time he had to come up with something on his own -though he knew it would work, "You are at my mercy. Can I trust you not to scream?"

"I am not the one whose trust should be questioned," Starfire shot back. Then she gasped loudly clutching her hand to her mouth.

Robin was in the air again. This time he did not smack into the wall, but was encapsulated in a black bubble. Raven set him on the floor and walked forward. She angrily slapped him across the face. "What the HELL was that! Look at what you did to Starfire!" she pointed directly below the place they were just standing. Star was huddled in a ball with her arms and hands covering her head.

"Raven. I'm sorry. I'll explain later, just do that empathic thing that you do now. Please?" Raven glared at him, but he knew she would do as he asked. Meanwhile, he knelt beside Starfire and attempted to free her head from her hands.

"Robin! I remember…something," she said shakily, turning to face him, hands still clenched. He looked back at her expectantly. She continued very slowly, "It tasted like a ball of cotton was residing in my mouth. Under my fingers there was something, rough, scratchy, and cold. My ears could hear very distant sounds of automotive vehicles …but sounds of an aviary were very **_near_**. The air felt breezy and cold, except…for a warm breath," she touched her cheek, "…but something would not allow my eyes to see."

"That's great Star!" he exclaimed as he helped her to her feet, "Anything else?" She shook her head no. "That's alright. Look, I'm really sorry that I had to do that to you. It must seem like I am being a total ass," he looked at Raven while he said that. "I think I know what happened to you, but I really needed you to help me fill in some parts. It seems that the only way to do that, was to shock your system into remembering."

Starfire put her hand on his shoulder, "Robin, I do not understand your methods and I am not sure I would like to attempt them again, but I am aware that your intentions are honorable. I wish to help you in any way that I can, but please, I do not wish for you to continue to call yourself names."

Robin almost did a double take. She was so understanding, and despite what she said, he still felt like an ass. "Uh Star? Could you go get Cyborg and Beast Boy and tell them to meet us topside? We've got a hideout to find."

* * *

"I sensed little fear and no anger. Some disdain, but that was also slight. It was almost as if she knew that she could be safe," he was listening to Raven explain as they climbed the stairs to the roof of the tower. 

Robin nodded, "Her 'clues' were actually fairly helpful, so do you think you could try to read the places that fit them to find those emotions so we can put everything together?" He caught a sideways glimpse of her raised brow, "My gosh that sounds soo stupid out loud."

She shrugged, "Yeah it does, but I know what you mean and if it can help us find Red X sooner I'll try."

As they emerged from the tower, they gained the attention of the other Titans, "All right guys. Here's the deal. We're looking for Red X." He heard Starfire gasp. Both Beast Boy and Cyborg turned to look at her, but Robin just continued, "He was the one who kidnapped Starfire, so we're gonna find him." Again Starfire gasped, this time Beast Boy and Cyborg just stared at Robin.

"She was kidnapped?!? I thought someone just left her in my room!" Beast Boy yelped arms flailing.

"Yeah man, what's all this about Red X?" Cyborg chimed in looking very confused.

Robin answered both of their questions at once, decisively; "It'll take too long to explain. We just need to find him. From what Starfire said he should be up high, most likely on the top of a brick building. Raven will assist in determining exactly which one, but we need you guys to help us scout out possibilities."

"Robin?" Starfire rocked back on her heels and started wringing her hands, "I cannot go."

Now it was Robin's turn to look confused, "What? Starfire are you okay?"

"The pictures in my head…they are starting to become clear. Some are disturbing, but most are confusing and I must take this time to sort them all out." She opened her arms and addressed the other Titans, "You all should go and find the Red X. I believe I will only require a short amount of time to focus my anxieties."

"I'm not leaving you here alone again Star," Robin stated flatly.

Cyborg cut in, "Hey, Rob? I can stay here with Star. I don't fly and I'm seriously lacking in the "cat-like reflexes" department. I'd just be a hindrance to y'all. I'll be of much better use here, looking out for this little girlie," he chucked Starfire on the shoulder in a genuine show of friendship, "You guys go. We'll be fine."

Robin looked directly at Starfire. He was still concerned, but had little reason to say no, "Okay. We'll call you when we find something." He ran toward the edge of the tower and leapt off. Beast Boy caught him in his claws and they flew off, followed closely by a levitating Raven.

* * *

A majority of the buildings in Jump City were not made of brick and of those that were, most were less than 3 stories. This aided their search considerably. 

In a very un-Beast Boy-like move, he made a great suggestion to start with the tallest brick building and work their way down. So, this was what they did. The tallest, happened to be a huge apartment complex in the middle of the city. They landed on the roof and Robin looked around. '_I certainly can't hear much traffic…and the birds **are** flying by in droves._' He found an open door and peeked in. No one was home, but even though the furnishings were sparse, the place did look used. "Raven. Come check this out."

She walked inside and looked around, "I'm going to have to ask you to step back a fair distance again Robin. It just makes things much easier."

He grabbed Beast Boy and dragged him away from the door. Even though he would've loved to, he couldn't watch her this time because the space was too small. A minute later, he heard her repeat the words from the new spell that she had used earlier, "Antium Echoshun Valiar!" He saw the door blow open wider, but could only listen otherwise.

Beast Boy stood with his head cocked trying to catch a glimpse of what was going on inside, "Dude, what is she **_doing_**?"

"Shhhhh…" he replied holding up his index finger.

So, Beast boy just shrugged it off, "Okaaaay."

Raven stepped out and called Robin to her, "We lucked out. This is it." He questioned her with his eyes and was quelled by her response, "Definitely."

Robin burst back inside. "Where's X!?" he demanded out loud to no one in particular. His eyes locked on the only thing that could give him the information he sought: the laptop sitting on the desk. '_Thank you good ole information age._'

He turned it on and started searching. He hunted through every file on the hard drive. He even attempted to hack into a few places, but nothing produced details of X's whereabouts. He finally gave up and dropped his head on the keys. A "bling" sounded and he looked up. '_That? **That** was what it took to find the info I needed?_' He rolled his eyes in disgust, but quickly snapped back into "concentration mode".

Once he had pinpointed the location, he gathered Raven and Beast Boy, "X is down at warehouse #15. A huge shipment of goods came in this morning. He must be sifting through the merchandise. Let's go." Raven nodded and they headed off. Robin called Cyborg while in the air, "Cy, X is down at warehouse #15. Can you and Starfire meet us there?"

"Yeah man, but I don't know if Star's alright. She keeps spouting gibberish. But from what I can tell, I think she's just talking to herself and throwing alien words into the conversation." Robin saw him shrug on the monitor.

"Okay, just get there as fast as you can." He flipped the lid on his communicator and as Best Boy set him on the ground,Robin took off running.

* * *

_A/N: FINALLY! Robin's found X, but how will X feel about that? And just who IS he darn it!_

_Maybe I'll tell you…Maybe I won't._

_Review and Maybe you'll find out which one I choose…_


	10. Crushing Blows

_A/N: Okay, YOU GUYS ROCK!! Thank you so much for reading my story!! This just makes me feel all mushy inside…_ _For those of you who didn't catch it before, there are 11 chapters, which means only 1 more and you shall know all! Just like me…well, not just like me, I will always know more (mwahaha), but still… _

_**Reviewer Replies:  
**I got another request! You guys are getting no-bake cookies today! (whew, that was much easier than actually cooking them, thanks **Forlorn Melody**!): **Absolutely pointless **(no need to beg…)**, kmc99, titanfan, StarfireFowl13, Sprox 83, robin and star fan, blackcatt, "robinxstarfire FAN!", "AAA", lil' LIK Star, "this. is. stupid.", **and** Eyes of Nevermore **(loved the flower!), and 2 "Special Thank Yous" today to **Scott Okragleski **and **"Savvy"**! (Thanks guys)_

_**Emmery:** yay! Thank you. I must give you a "suggestion" bonus! How about $5? Hmm… no. Maybe another cookie?!  
**DeathIsMyWayOut: **Ahh…I do not give up so easily! Robin shall be mine! (…Or, maybe we could share him?)  
**robin(plus)starfire: **really glad I could help! Checking out your story now…  
**Babi3 A: **Ingested too much caffeine did we? I do that a lot.  
**Aeris9919: **I would love to get more into the characters emotions. That's the one thing I'm working on right now: fleshing out my stories. I've always been a great editor/summarizer, but actual "involved" writing is a little harder for me (hence the "I do not profess" disclaimer that I also add). Hopefully (crosses fingers) my next story will get a bit more in-depth. (Thank you).  
**Shadow12002: **corza right? Cool name change… Well, hopefully season 3 will get to you all soon; cause the final episode of it is being shown here this week. Great stuff! You should enjoy it.  
**Girl With The Cauldron Spirit: **Hey, you got your wish! More X this chapter! And please, I wish you to keep your guts inside of you…that would just mean lots of clean up for me and **you** would never find out who X is (you know, being dead and all…).  
**Jadedea: **No worries, I will tell you. Just one more chapter, so I hope that appeases you…  
"**foreverfree": **I totally understand what you're saying. I think like that too, so I think you and this story fit well…(hey, I gotta get some self-promotion in somehow!).  
"**Ryan":** No, you are not the writer, but keeping you in suspense, is what **this** writer is happy to do…at the moment. Hopefully I will answer all of your questions in or by the next chapter. And I personally think Robin is "Dick" Grayson, but hey, the producers can use whomever they wish…_

_Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, this chapter is shorter. I warned that this would happen back in chapter 2, but at least this one's from X's point of view! Enjoy…_

_**Disclaimer:** I can't think of one, but you guys should know by now that I don't own TT. Right? RIGHT!?! Oh, come ON!_  
_**Though I do not profess to be great, I do not profess to suck either.**_

* * *

**_Crushing Blows_  
_(chapter 10)_**

X perused through isles of equipment and furnishings for stuff he could use in his apartment. "Somebody pinch me!" It was only a passing statement and he did not expect a reply, so he was rightfully startled when one came.

"I'd rather **_punch_** you!" A fist connected with the side of his face and he had to readjust his jaw before he could even see whom the fist was attached to. '_Robin. Hmm, punches harder than I remember._' "Hey kid. Come to steal back what I've rightfully stolen?"

"Unless you feel generous enough to just hand it over," Robin spouted.

"Now what would be the sport in that?" In one fluid motion he grabbed Robin's wrist, dropped to one knee, and flipped him over his head. He grinned behind his mask as he stared at Robin on his back on the floor. "See ya later kid," he bolted for the door and was less than surprised when black boxes came flying at him from all angles making him navigate through a virtual obstacle course. He dodged left and right and dove under some, but was run over by a rhinoceros midway. '_Beast Boy, you pain in the ass._' Literally it seemed…

He got up and continued running, this time turning back to shoot a sticky-putty X. It connected with both Raven and Beast Boy trapping them together with an accompanying snapping sound. As they struggled, he watched the exit creep closer with each stride. It was within reach when his attempt was thwarted by a small metal pole. Robin had dropped from the ceiling and was now sticking that damned Bo staff in his face. "I'm at 4th and goal kid. And you think you're gonna block me?"

"I've already intercepted you once," Robin shot back.

"Whoo, smooth," even **_he_** had to admit it at least worked with the metaphor, but a snarky comment wasn't going to stop him. He placed his hands on either side of Robin's and pushed forward with the right side of the staff smacking him in the side of the head. He quickly pushed forward with his other hand, striking Robin again. He twisted it out of Robin's grip and whipped it around behind his own back. He could've used it to beat the crap out of Robin, but discarded it to make it easier for him to use his other –much cooler- gadgets.

"Now, let's get on to my victory dance, shall we…" he verbalized, beating the metaphor to death. A rope shot out of his belt that wrapped around Robin's feet. He tipped him over and proceeded to the exit. He would've made it, if Robin hadn't grabbed his ankle and yanked him to the floor. '_Must you be the thorn in my side?_'He whipped his legs around and did a spinning flip to get to his feet. Robin, after untying his bindings, arched his back and threw his legs forward to rise.

"So this is what I get for saving your life? Huh, kid?" He saw Robin sneer at this and come at him with two jabs to the face. Luckily he ducked enough that neither connected fully, but the second blow glanced off his chin and belted his shoulder. This ignited a spark within him, '_It's on_.'

Their fight ranged all over the warehouse. Soon it became a boxing match: Robin would throw a punch; he would dodge and throw one right back. There were clear hits, but neither could be declared a winner. When they got tired of using just their fists they started using their feet, then their gadgets, later they threw in some acrobatics for good measure.

After a while it started to get monotonous. Robin came at him **_again_** with a roundhouse kick. He was trying to go low and then high, but X just grabbed his foot and watched him flail for a while before flinging him backwards. Robin popped up quickly and came at him again. He was getting really pissed off by this, so he gave a final unrelenting kick to Robin's gut. It shoved him back so hard that he smacked against the wall. He saw his opportunity and lunged forward shooting a large red X out of his wrist reminiscent of _Spider Man_ slinging a web. Robin became attached to the steel and X breathed a sigh of relief in not having to deal with him for a while.

Once again, he tried for the exit and was barred. This time by Beast Boy who had morphed into an alligator and swished him away from the door with his tail. Before he could get up, Raven sent a shelf full of equipment tumbling down on top of him. He was hurt and had to worm his way through a maze of boxes, but he came out on top. When he emerged, she hurled a TV at him. It just barely missed him and he knew he'd had enough.

"Azarath Metrio…" She started holding her hands in the air.

He interrupted her, "Ahh, Raven. You and I, we're just like an old married couple; you keep wanting to throw things at me…and I just want you to SHUT UP!" He shot out one sticky red X to cover her mouth and two elongated ones to wrap around her hands and feet. She dropped from where she was levitating and struggled to free herself.

'_Two down, one to go, but why's it only 3 on 1?_ -_No time for wondering now…'_ He set his sights on the green one. '_How about we try one of these…_' he worked his magic and threw a large X down on the floor. He lured Beast Boy over and as soon as he stepped on it, he stuck like a fly to flypaper, '_Well, **that** was easy._'

He looked around. The warehouse was in shambles, but he could still see all three Titans caught in his traps. He could also see the door, in all its exity glory. He decided it would be a good time to make one last attempt at an escape. "See ya later kids," he even saluted to them near the doorway.

He turned to leave, but halted when he heard a disturbing noise, "_Arrraaah_!" X looked around. His face gained a pissed off, yet disappointed look and he let out a long sigh. Robin had escaped. '_You know what, screw it! I'm leaving anyway..._'

He attempted to execute his "fuck-it-all" plan, but something kicked him from behind and swung him around. He was face to face with the Bo staff again, except this time Robin kept coming at him, "Miss me?" The staff retained its place on his throat and Robin shoved his back against the wall. It was crushing his Adam's apple and he was gasping for breath, but Robin held fast. X struggled to place his hands on the staff and push back. It was all he could do to keep Robin from cutting off his air supply completely.

"What did you do to Starfire?" He was more yelling than asking.

X was in a tight spot so he figured he'd try lying first, "Nothing!"

Robin had a strong resolve to find an answer, so he pushed harder, "Liar! I know you took her, but she doesn't remember any of it. I'm asking you one more time…what did you do to her?!"

"How do you know that? I thought Krystal was supposed to…" he croaked amid hoarse breaths.

His look of anger turned into one of absolute rage, "You!? **_You_** did that! Raven was almost killed because of what you did!" Robin thrust forward so hard that for a while he really couldn't breathe.

"I…can't…you…don't…going…to kill…me…" he coughed out trying to make Robin stop. He was going to lose consciousness if he didn't get more air into his lungs.

Robin didn't seem to care, "Why shouldn't I kill you? You tried to take **_both_** of them away! I had to hold her when she was dying and you don't even **_care_** do you? All you care about is yourself! So why shouldn't I kill you?" Robin paused and glared straight into his eyes, "If you even **_think_** you have **_any_** reason to be alive…you better answer me."

X lost all ability to get **_any_** words out, much less a plea for his life, though he tried with great urgency. If Robin could've seen his face, he would've noticed this, but because of his damned mask he couldn't. So X did the only thing he could manage: he stopped resisting.

Before he actually **_did_** start to black out he heard a sweet voice come to his rescue, "Robin STOP!"

* * *

_A/N: Ooh, Robin's pissed! Don't ya just love it?!? I do. Robin can be so nice sometimes and all of a sudden become such a prick…that's why he's so much fun to write! _

_One more guys! Just one more…_  
_Hmm…**should** I post it? I don't know… What do you guys think?_


	11. Explanations

_(I'm soo sorry to my author alert people that get this twice, it's just that chapter 11 did not show up on the site so many of my anonymous reviewers could not see it, thus the reposting)_

_A/N: So we have come to the end of a long journey… I feel like I have gotten to know you all just a little bit better and I am so overjoyed at the response that I have gotten to this story that I don't even know what to say other than THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!! I hope that this last chapter lives up to all of your expectations.  
__(I am working on another story right now, but it may take a little while only because, as I told you all at the beginning of this one, I am anal retentive when it comes to my stories so it will be done completely before I post it. I may throw a one shot or something in-between, just to keep your appetites satiated…)_

_**Reviewer Replies:  
HUGE HUGE** Thank Yous to my 2 **best** Reviewers! **kmc99! **And **Jadedea!** You guys so rock. You have both been there with me and reviewed every chapter since the beginning! So cookies for an entire year for both of you!  
__For the rest of you: Big Thank Yous and I know that many of the rest of you have been there with this story through thick and thin also, and also deserve mentions and big cookies so: **solodancer789, Aeris9919, StarfireFowl13, Shadow12002, Queen-of-Azarath, robin and star fan, Eyes of Nevermore **(yay! 2flowers!)**, "foreverfree"**(okay, no more torture!)**, "cookies", lil' LIK Star, PriscillaGirl, titanfan, **and **blackcatt. **Also, my last 2 "Special Thank Yous" for this story again go to: **"Savvy"** and **Scott Okragleski!**_

_**Emmery: **It is totally okay…I'm obsessed with him too and actually so is DeathIsMyWayOut. You are gonna have to fight both of us if you really want Robin!  
__**DeathIsMyWayOut: **Oh my gosh I love reading your reviews. I laughed so hard. You know I don't think Robin would mind sharing us, it's just that Starfire would probably beat both of us out. So, if you could get me Red X then you could fight Star for him! (haha)  
__**robin(plus)starfire: **really glad I could help you out! Hope you like the ending.  
__"**Ryan":** hey, for some reason, I really like reading your reviews, so if you would like to email me with your mail address, I'll keep you posted on my stuff. (You don't have to, it was just a thought).  
__"**this. is. stupid.": **NNNOOOO! Not the Staplers!! I must avoid the staplers!! Oh, wait…call them off! I'm posting! I'm posting! (and thank you very much! I'm glad you really like my story).  
__**Evilevergreen: **I know you were really loyal also (I mean man, risking tardiness is right up there), it's just that I had the other 2 down for every chapter. And Yay! I'm so glad you liked that line! That was one of my favorites too! And the story 'Ship of Heroes' is on my Favorites (so glad you want to read it). If you click on my name and then my favorite stories, I think it's like the second one down.  
__**Babi3 A: **thank you so much. I feel so flattered. Yes, I am writing more as I said above, so don't come after me with an ice-pick or anything!  
__**Bleeding Wings: **those are wonderful compliments coming from you! I'm still very much enjoying your story by the way…and **my** next one should have a lot of Rob/Rae so I hope you'll like it.  
__**Forlorn Melody: **yep, I guess X is rubbing off on me, but I love him so (as you'll see).  
__"**Yami-Mark": **I'll email you everything you need as soon as this shows up!_

_--FINALLY! X and some fluff! Ahhh…  
(and I was soo just teasing you all. Of **course** I was going to post this chapter!)_

_**Disclaimer: **If I owned Teen Titans X would be a much bigger "recurring character" and he's just not (Darn them!) so obviously I don't own the show._

**_Though I do not profess to be great, I do not profess to suck either._

* * *

_Explanations_  
_(chapter 11)_**

Robin was staring into the face of evil. And it seemed that this face was **_his_** creation. His crushing grip on the Bo staff was turning his knuckles white. He didn't know how much pressure he was exerting forth, nor did he care. All he could feel was the resentment and pure hatred he had toward this **_thing_**.

"Robin STOP!" Starfire yelled through the echoing warehouse. She came closer attempting to pull his arms back. He shoved her away, so she tried once more to verbally halt him, "Robin please, you **_must_** stop!"

Robin had no intention of letting up, not after what had been revealed to him, "You weren't here. You didn't hear him admit it! He kidnapped you…and that bitch that tried to kill Raven? **_He_** sent her too! His actions require consequences Starfire, and I intend to **_be_** one of those consequences!"

"ROBIN YOU WILL STOP RIGHT NOW!" She ripped the instrument of asphyxiation from his hands. X fell to the floor barely moving, but Robin could still make out his vehement gasps for air.

"Starfire!" he had turned his anger toward her at the moment, "Why did you do that? You of all people know that he deserves punishment." He glared at her and took back his staff. He would have gladly returned to his previous position if Starfire hadn't grabbed his shoulder and held so tightly that he couldn't even attempt it. "Let me go Star!"

Starfire spun him around and gripped both shoulders tightly. She held his gaze, "Robin, you must not harm him!"

Robin heaved a heavy sigh of animosity and seethed through clenched teeth, "Why, the hell,**_ not_**?"

Starfire loosened her grip and stepped toward the now crouching Red X who was silently massaging his throat. She bent toward him, "Because he…" at this she reached down and with little resistance, pulled off his mask, "is you!"

Robin's jaw dropped to the floor. The only thing he could manage to do was point with his index finger. It was like looking into a mirror of the future. The hair was longer, the body broader, and the features stronger, but even with another mask covering his eyes, he could still tell that this was indeed his twin…only about five years older.

* * *

He remained stuck in his pose. No conscious thought came, so he concentrated on the actions of Starfire with Red…Robin…_Him_. Starfire whispered a long something into _His_ ear, then walked to Robin's side placing her arm around him and her other hand on his free one. "Robin many things have happened that we both do not understand and I wished for the Red X to explain. I have made it impossible for him to refuse us." The last part had a malicious air. 

He didn't know what Starfire had said, '_She probably threatened him with bodily harm and considering his weakened state, that would work nicely_' but he wanted to hear this explanation as well. He picked his jaw up off the floor and crossed his arms, vaguely noticing Starfire still clinging to him.

"Who are you really?" Robin asked in a domineering manner.

_He _stood up, "She's right… I'm you."

"That's impossible!"

"You of all people should know that nothing is impossible," _He_ replied, still rubbing his throat.

"Then you better do some explaining." The "older Robin" glanced over at Starfire who gave him a stern "go on" look. Robin could see a small ball of green light forming in her palm for emphasis.

"I…came from a place where she," he nodded toward Starfire, "was no more."

"When I…" Starfire gasped then let out a heavy sigh.

"Yeah, you'd disappeared Star. -Year after year I searched for you. Everyone else had given up on you long before, but I _knew_ that I had to find you again." He sounded angry and confused and distraught all at the same time, "It was five years before I even entertained the idea that you weren't coming back" he stepped closer to her. "You were special, you were the glue that held us all together, and you were, well…let's just say I never got over it." He stopped, then turned away and continued solemnly, "Another year passed and I had given up hoping. I gained no satisfaction from being a hero anymore. I couldn't even save my closest friend, so why should I? I had no one else, so I decided to look out for number one.

"I remembered back to the last time I felt empowered when I was alone…and it came to me. I went back to the tower and dusted off my old suit. I once again became Red X. This time, for good."

Robin stared at him skeptically not wanting to believe, "That's a wonderful story, but it still doesn't explain why you're _here_. If you're me, from six years after Starfire's disappearance, there's no way that you…"

He was interrupted by his "twin", "Why must you always doubt yourself? That's one of the reasons why being X is so much better than being Robin." He gave his hands a little wave as if he were dusting off something gross. "If I must explain, and if I know you –which I do- I must…A while back things started disappearing -little things at first, so to me it wasn't that big a deal. Just chalked it up to some guy starting trouble, but later bigger things went missing, later still whole sections of time were skipping in places. Soon, **_everything_** around me was missing pieces, like an unfinished puzzle.

"I researched, but found nothing useful, except for one thing: worm holes. I'd only seen one before-that day that Warp attacked and Starfire disappeared. I went back to the storehouse and sure enough, there was another. I escaped into it quickly. I don't know how long I was in there, but when I stepped out, I was here. With no suit and no idea where I was, I used my intellect and 'skills' to figure it out. I stayed with Krystal for a while, but when I found out **_you_** were here, I went back to get what was mine." He held out his hands and shrugged, "The rest, is quite literally history."

"So you **_are_** an aged Robin? You should not be here. For your sake and ours," Starfire glared at him, "and I do not care **_who_** you are, you should not have taken advantage!" She turned to him, "Robin I believe you were right. He does deserve retribution for what he did to me and to Raven, but I do not believe that he deserves to die. Especially at your hand."

He knew she was right and nodded in agreement, though he probably would have agreed with anything she said at this point because he was in a state of disbelief about what he had just witnessed. At the moment all he could do was rehash his previous encounters with Red X: ---"'_Kid, you are taking life way too seriously_."--- "'_I'm not such a bad guy, once you get to know me._'"--- "'_I thought you didn't like to play the hero?'…'Doesn't mean I don't know how._'"---The aid… the fighting style… All clues. '_I should've noticed something earlier!_'

He chuckled to himself, '_I'm sure Beast Boy must've had this on his ridiculous "board" somewhere and I just dismissed it as one of his pointless ramblings_.'

"Robin!" Starfire shook him, snapping him out of his dazed state, "We need to take the Red…you…_Him_ to jail. We may sort everything out then."

"You can do that on your own time," X interjected flatly, finally back to his old self. Taking his only opportunity, he yanked his mask from Starfire's hand and pushed the button on his belt. He dissipated and Robin and Star looked around dumbfounded.

X fizzled back into view by the door and slipped his full mask on. As Robin and Starfire readied themselves for a fight, X addressed them, "Robin, you should've killed me when you had the chance, now this doppelganger will forever plague you - 'Cause there's **_no way_** you'll catch me again." He left and they ran after him, but it was too late.

Starfire started to fly up after him, but Robin held her back, "Starfire, let him go."

She stared at him with a raised brow, "But Robin, we must go after him. He must still be put into prison! And there should **_not_** be two yous running around the city."

"It's alright Star. He'll be back. I should know." He crouched down and grabbed a rock off the ground. He tossed it away then gazed upward, "And he isn't me any more Star. Now…he's just 'Red X'."

* * *

He was dressed in the black jeans and shirt he had planned to wear before. He looked at himself in the mirror and checked his hair to see if it was tousled correctly. He looked good -it was the least he could do, but something didn't feel right. After a quick double-check, he realized what was irking him: this time…he left his mask off. 

Robin stepped out of the stairwell adjacent to the roof. He was looking for Starfire. Now that everything had settled down, he knew that it was time to talk to her. Even though she had most likely "forgiven and forgotten" in all that had happened, **_he_** would never forget. And he really did need her to know how he felt.

She was sitting right on the edge, swinging her dangling feet. He snuck up on her with out a sound and placed his hands over her eyes. "Guess who?" he whispered.

She stopped to consider his query, "Cyborg could not sneak up on me without large amounts of clamoring, Beast Boy has slightly clammy hands, and Raven would find this game too trivial. So you must be Robin!" She giggled and turned to face him. When she noticed his appearance, she gained a look of surprise and blurted, "Robin! I did not know that you had blue eyes!"

Robin smiled, but looked confused, "What were you expecting? Plaid?"

"No, it is just that you look so very good that I was surprised," she countered. Again he gave her a look of confusion. "It is not that you do not look good at other times. It is just that you look different," she caught another look, "in a good way. I wish friend, that you would have given me prior notice so that I may look as different as you!"

'_Oh my gosh, she is soo cute. I love the way her broken English sounds_.' "No Starfire, I did this for you because there's something that I want to talk to you about and I want to be as open as possible."

She expressed concern, "Robin, what is it that you would like to say that would make you dress differently?"

He sat next to her and let both of her hands to rest in his, "Starfire, I have already apologized to Raven for what I allowed to happen to her and I told her I would do everything in my power to find Krystal Ice and make her pay."

Starfire smiled, "Robin that is wonderful! I will be very glad to help, but I still do not understand. You could have announced that to everyone and you would not have needed to change your clothes…"

"Star, you may have forgotten, but I really need to apologize to you too. And not about something that someone else did, but about something **_I _**did." He looked down at his hands and continued, "Back when we were looking for Slade - when I was delusional, I hurt you. I know it's no excuse, but every thought in my brain was so focused on him that I didn't even realize it until much later when I saw that you were still so sad. Even then, I still didn't say anything!" He became aggravated and had take in a deep breath to mellow. "Starfire? I'm so sorry. I would never hurt you on purpose and I pray that nothing like that will ever happen again. I could not bear to lose you because of my stupidity. Not when I've already lost you once. I know that that cannot make up for what I did, but will you forgive me anyway?"

She gazed into his eyes and ran a hand through her crimson hair, "Robin I forgive you." She smiled at him, "I forgave you a long time ago." He smiled back and leaned closer to her. She obviously wasn't paying attention to his subtle sign because she continued talking, "Now, there is something that I need to tell you."

"Yes?"

She let her eyes fall to the ground, "Please, I do not want you to be mad with me."

Now it was his turn to look concerned, "Why would I be mad at you Star?"

"Robin, the Red X, he…kissed me…" she paused, "and I kissed him back." She quickly tried to rectify her admission, "I did not know what I was doing." She stood up and started to fly off. "Please forgive me and we can go inside and forget that any of this ever happened," by then, she had her hand on the doorknob.

"No," he replied. Her eyebrows curved together and he could see her eyes cloud up. "…What I meant was, I forgive you, but I don't want to go inside just yet." He grabbed her free hand and spun her around so that she faced him. He wrapped his other hand around her waist.

She looked into his eyes, "The Red X? He said that he was driven to a life of crime because of his longing to find me and when we were together he had many passionate feelings toward me. I know that you said that he is no longer you, but he **_was_**. Does that mean you have the same feelings toward me?"

He laid everything on the table, "Star I've liked you ever since we met. You are very special to me. I've always entertained the thought of you and I being together, but I didn't want to ruin our friendship. X was able to let his feelings for you show because you were gone from him for so long and he thought he had a second chance with you. But you're here with **_me_** now and I don't intend to let this opportunity slide by." With that, he pulled her into a long deep sweet kiss.

When they eased back she tried to suppress a huge grin by biting her bottom lip, "So, you **_do_** feel like him?"

"No. I feel like me." He grinned back, "Now we can go inside, if you still want…"

"I think I would like to stay out here and admire the stars once more. How about you?"

He looked deep into her eyes and pulled her toward him once more, "I wouldn't mind that at all…"

_**THE END

* * *

**_

_A/N: Oh, how adorable huh? Not too fluffy, but still good! _

_I feel that I have to clear up one BIG question that I'm sure is lurking in some of your brains, right now. If I don't you all will probably be sending me a barrage of emails wanting me to answer you.  
__So, I assume most of you are thinking: "What the HECK?!? I thought that when Starfire went into the future, Robin was 'Nightwing'! Why would Robin be X and **then** be Nightwing?"  
--__First of all this is only **my** explanation of who X is. Secondly I am only placing X and his scenario in the "alternate future" 6 years down the line. That means that though Robin may have given up hope on everything after he realized that Starfire was finally gone, there were still another 14 years in which he could have come to terms with that fact and gone back to being a good guy and become 'Nightwing'. Cyborg did say, "If you're looking for Robin, you're on your own. We lost touch with him a long time ago." –Robin becoming X could have been a symptom of their separation.  
--__Remember again that this is only **my **explanation. But, I do like it a lot. _

_Again, **THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH**! And I would still like to hear what you feel about my ending, so please Review!! -Even if it's a short blip, I don't mind._


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